Harry Potter and the Great Granger
by Proud Mudblood
Summary: After OotP, Harry feels responsible for all the bad things that happened at the Ministry. Only one person knows him well enough to know how much he hurts, but can even she help? Rated M for very depressed Harry and violent Dursleys ABANDONED
1. I Deserve It

Harry wiped some sweat off his brow so he could see to continue weeding. His aunt, unfortunately for him, didn't approve, and smacked him on the head-not lightly.

"Stop being so lazy, you ungrateful freak," his Uncle Vernon said.

Harry responded with a simple, "Yes, Uncle Vernon." Apparently, they were in a good mood, as they decided not to take that as cheek. The confrontation at the train station had made them angrier than usual this summer. Harry didn't care. As far as he was concerned, he deserved it for causing his godfather's death, Hermione's injuries, and all the rest of their injuries.

He was smacked by Petunia again, and he realized his thoughts had made him stop working. As this one was a longer pause than last time, Vernon felt the need to do something, as well, and whipped Harry with his belt. Harry took without any type of protest. He did continue weeding, though.

After that was done, he was told to make lunch, and then sent up to his room while they ate. He picked up some of the broken pieces of glass from the mirror that Sirius had given him and rolled up his sleeves. He knew he needed to live to make the world safe from Voldemort, but he needed some way to relieve his emotional pain. Having grown up in the muggle world, he knew about cutting. He thought that it was only fitting that the thing he could have used to save Sirius was used to hurt him. He then went and ran the fresh cuts under water. He had found out from the Dursleys a long time ago that fresh cuts with water can cause quite a bit of pain.

It had only been a week since he had come back from Hogwarts, but he had already amassed as many cuts on his arms as he had collected from the Dursleys in all his previous years. He was grateful that Hermione wasn't here; her reaction to his cuts would have been to cry, hug him, heal them, hug him again, then give him an hour long lecture about how he had friends now. At least, that would have been her reaction before. He knew that after the incident in the ministry, she would be keeping her distance. He couldn't even open her letters; he didn't want to see the angry words he was sure were written there.

A shout from his aunt to get downstairs made him jump while he was in the middle of what must have been his twentieth cut since he had visited the bathroom. It went deeper than usual, and for the first time, he actually had to fight a cry of pain. He rolled down his sleeves, some part of him enjoying the pain he received from them roughly chafing his cuts.

He was downstairs quickly and doing the dishes before his relatives could say anything. He had down this often enough that he knew what they wanted. What he hadn't considered was that the deeper cut he had made would mean more blood. It was dripping through the sleeves. Dudley was the one to notice. This was surprising, as he was usually as observant as a deaf bat. He waited until Harry finished the dishes, then gleefully punched him the stomach.

"What do you think you're doin', freak?" He yelled. "How dare you make a mess!" This was accompanied by another punch. "Clean it up! And clean that shirt, too, you freak!" A final punch, then Dudley let Harry collapse to the floor. He walked away laughing.

Harry picked himself up off the floor and began cleaning. Fortunately, he was a fast healer, so he had stopped bleeding by this time and wasn't making a mess while cleaning.

Meanwhile, at the Granger house, Hermione was gnawing on her lower lip. Harry hadn't responded to any of her letters. It had only been a week, but she knew of Harry's turtle-like tendencies, and had tried to head them off by sending a letter every day. Unfortunately, there was still no response, and she was getting worried. He was living with those horrid relatives of his, and probably blaming himself for everything that had gone wrong at the Ministry. Her blood was boiling at just the thought of them. Gathering her courage, she went downstairs to talk to her parents.

"Mum, Dad," Hermione began, "you know about Harry, right?"

Dan and Emma Granger shared a glance; they had probably heard more about him than anyone else at her school. They figured that if they met him, they'd know exactly what he would do in given circumstances. Being loving parents, they also knew their daughter. They thought they knew where this was going.

"Of course we can go visit Harry, Hermione," Emma said.

"Well, I'm kind of worried, and-wait-what?" Hermione stood for a second, stunned that they knew what she was going to ask. She didn't bother questioning it, and gave a sigh of relief before running to her parents and treating them to her famous bone-crushing hugs. She immediately requested going to his house tomorrow, and treated them to more of her hugs when she received a yes. She immediately rushed up the stairs to plan tomorrow (it was Saturday), before turning around, going back down the stairs, saying an excited thank you, and rushing back up the stairs.

_Pointing to Harry, the ghostly form of Sirius said disgustedly, "I thought Wormtail was the only fool who would get his friends hurt and killed."_

_All Harry could do was beg for forgiveness. "I'm sorry, Sirius, I didn't mean to. Please, let me fix this," he pleaded with his nightmare._

"_Fix this?" Sirius sneered. "How do you plan on fixing death?"_

"_I don't know," Harry wailed, "I just wish I could."_

_Sirius shifted to Hermione, and she said, "Not this time, Potter," with such a sneer on the word Potter that Snape would have been envious. "I've followed you since first year, how could you do this to me?"_

_Harry was sobbing by this time, muttering, "I know, I'm sorry," over and over, unable to face the girl who had done so much for, and who he had failed so miserably._

"_You should be sorry," she screeched. "And we thought you could be the one to teach us Defense," she sneered. "We won't be making the same mistake of trusting you again."_

_Harry could only think to himself that he already knew that, and that he deserved that and more. He didn't even realize that he was still muttering his mantra._

He woke up to his tear-soaked pillow covered in sweat and shaking. He glanced at the clock, and found that he had been able to sleep for an hour, a new record since the fiasco at the Ministry. Not wanting to face Sirius or Hermione again, he decided he would stay awake. He automatically rolled up his sleeves and reached for the broken pieces of glass. He then spent the next seven hours finding new places to creatively torment himself. He stayed away from any place visible, such as his face or hands, but the knife went everywhere except for his package and rear end. He found out that the most painful place to cut was on his shins, but that he would bleed more if he cut his inner thighs or wrists.

At eight, he put the glass in his top drawer, knowing his uncle would probably be up soon. It didn't matter that it was Saturday; his uncle would make sure he worked. True to predictions, Harry heard his uncle's door open and the floor creak as he made his way to Harry's room. Harry decided to pretend to be asleep today, knowing that if his uncle believed he was asleep, he would punish him for being lazy.

Vernon pushed Harry's door open, turned the light on, and gasped in fury that the _freak_ was still sleeping. He went back to his room, grabbed a belt, marched back to Harry's room, and woke him with a whipping. Harry never screamed, or tried to avoid the whip. The part of his mind that thought he deserved it reveled in the treatment.

"Get your lazy ass up, freak!" Uncle Vernon said, trying not to shout; he didn't want to wake Petunia or Dudley. "I expect to see the kitchen cleaned before I come downstairs. I don't know why we took you in, you're so ungrateful!"

Harry merely said, "Yes, Uncle Vernon." Unfortunately, his uncle was not in a good mood today.

His face became purple, and he barely stopped himself from screaming the words, "I don't want any cheek from you, you insolent little freak!" as he put more into the whipping. Harry was amazed that the fat man was still going, but there was still the guilty part of his mind that reveled in the treatment.

As soon as Vernon finished the whipping, gasping for air, Harry went down the stairs and cleaned the little bit of the kitchen that wasn't already clean. After all, he'd had to clean it the night before. All he had to clean was the mess Dudley and Vernon had made when they had eaten their midnight snack that was the size of a large meal.

It didn't take long, since he'd done it most of his life. When Vernon came downstairs a few minutes later, he was disappointed that he couldn't find anything to complain about. So he had Harry clean the bathroom. When that was done to his satisfaction, he had him clean the living room.

He was quickly running out of things to do, when Petunia and Dudley woke up. It was 11 o'clock, surprisingly early for Dudley. Now he had to make breakfast. He made the eggs, bacon, and sausage perfectly, but he purposely burnt the last piece of toast so he would be punished. He expected to be sent to his room, where Vernon would whip him. That was exactly what happened. At least, that was exactly what happened until Vernon got tired, and decided Dudley needed to learn how to whip. Dudley, unfortunately, took a liking to it, and had much better stamina than his father. It took him nearly half an hour to tire of the whipping. The shirt Harry was wearing was basically tatters, but he had managed to not scream. Even when Dudley decided he was going to slap the marks he had left, he didn't scream.

A few hours later, there was the sound of the doorbell ringing, the door opening, and a voice that cheerfully asked Vernon to see Harry Potter.


	2. Harmony

_A few hours later, there was the sound of the doorbell ringing, the door opening, and a voice that cheerfully asked Vernon to see Harry Potter._

Harry didn't hear any of these things. He had recovered from his whipping about an hour ago, but was still in his room. Once more, he had the glass to his wrist. He was about to mark his flesh again when he heard footsteps running up the steps. He had already changed his shirt, so all he had to do was quickly hide the glass, and roll down his sleeves.

Moments later, the door opened, and Harry Potter saw Hermione Granger. He panicked. He was backing up, and already as far as possible from the person he knew hated him. Since he wasn't waking up, he decided to help himself by slamming his head into the wall. "Wake up, damn it, wake up!" He muttered angrily to himself as he slammed his head into the wall over and over.

He heard the Hermione screech, "Harry" and knew it wasn't working. He also heard to new voices muttering in shock, things like "My God", and "The poor child", and "How does he live like this". These didn't matter to him. The fact that Hermione was walking towards him did. He cowered down, into the corner of his bed, and childishly used his pillow as a shield. "Please," Harry sobbed, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for you to get hurt! I'm sorry!"

Hermione was so happy she was going to see her friend. She was just upset she had to see the Dursleys, too. When they got to his house, she was glad her mother had decided to talk to Vernon, because she didn't think she could pretend the cheerfulness her mother had.

However, any joy she had was gone, seeing Harry like this. His words broke her heart. She knew it was what he always did, and she was pretty sure it was because of his horrible relatives, but this was heartbreaking. Hearing him plead like that had her in tears.

She decided to say something on a completely different topic. "Why didn't you answer any of my letters?"

That seemed to get through to him. "L-letters?" He stuttered a little bit. "Hermione?" He asked quietly. "Is it really you? Am I really awake?"

"Yes, Harry, it's me, and you're really awake," she responded quietly. "Why didn't you answer any of my letters?" She had to struggle to keep her voice from breaking. The boy who faced down a fully corporeal Voldemort three times was so guilt-ridden, he was reduced to hiding behind a pillow.

He turned away from her. "I didn't want to see how much you hated me," he whispered. "I knew if I saw the words, it would be more real."

She wasn't sure whether she should be mad at him for blaming himself for everything, or cry that his relatives had done this to him. She decided on trying to simply remain calm. "Harry," she said softly, "will you please come off the bed and talk to me?"

She could see how terrified he was, as he moved slowly from the bed until he stood in front of her with his head down. She could hardly contain herself from hugging him. But she could see how jumpy he was, so she asked first. "Harry, is it alright if I hug you?" She heard what sounded like a couple of sobs, and thought she saw a few drops of moisture fall from his face. In the dark room, it was hard to tell. Finally, he nodded.

She went over to him slowly, before taking him gently into her arms. She gently rubbed his back, and felt him wince. She stopped immediately. "Harry," she said suspiciously, "what happened to your back?"

Harry couldn't believe that Hermione wasn't mad at him. She even hugged him. Then he had screwed it all up by wincing. He couldn't tell her what happened. She would get upset with his relatives, then he would have to explain that he did it on purpose, and he would lose her friendship for real this time.

So he simply said, "Nothing." He should have known better.

"Then take off your shirt and let me see," she challenged him.

_Damn!_ He thought. He knew he had to make up a lie, now. "Really, it's nothing, I just fell on my back and scraped it a little."

"I still want to see it," she said. "Mum, will you please turn on the light?" When her mum helpfully switched the light on, all three Grangers gasped. Harry reminded Hermione of Sirius when he had been released from Azkaban. His cheeks were sunk in, his eyes bloodshot, the massive bags under his eyes, and everything about him screamed bony. If she hadn't been talking to him, she'd think he was dead. After a moment of silence, Mr. Granger said, "I'll be right back, there are some people downstairs on Death's guest list."

"No!" Harry shouted. "Please, I don't want any trouble."

Although Hermione was more than willing to help her father, she knew Harry would be upset, so she looked at her father, and shook her head, despite the rage she was feeling. Turning back to Harry, she said, "Please take off your shirt and turn around." When he hesitated, she added, "For me."

Slowly, he nodded, and took his shirt off, turning as he did so. Nothing could prepare the Grangers for the sight of Harry's back. They just stared in horror at it for a moment as Harry's shirt dropped to the floor. Then the adult Grangers turned from his room, and began to head down the stairs purposefully.

Harry couldn't let the Grangers do this, not when he'd provoked the Dursleys into doing it in the first place. He turned towards them, throwing his arms out and shouting, "No, stop!"

The adult Grangers weren't prepared to listen to him, however, and only turned back when Hermione made a noise sounding like a strangled sob. She had taken in the bruises on his stomach first, then the cuts that went up and down his wrists. She had grabbed his arms, turning the wrists up to look at them. That was when she had made the strangled sob her parents had heard. The fact that some of them were still bleeding wasn't lost on any of them.

Harry looked away from them, ashamed, and said, "I can't let you punish them. I purposely provoked them into doing it, know what would happen." Despite his shame, he didn't try to pull away from Hermione's grasp.

Hermione made the strangled sob sound again. She wasn't sure her heart could take this. It was like seeing the little boy Harry again. But why? She asked aloud, "Why, Harry?"

His answer broke her heart again. "I deserved it." She wanted to hug him again, and she wouldn't let him go this time. But she remembered his back. Before she could respond to that statement, Harry followed up his answer with, "Besides, it helped me deal with everything." Hermione was shocked to say the least.

"Harry, why couldn't you talk to me instead?" Hermione asked, desperately trying to hold it together.

Still refusing to look at any of them, he whispered, "I thought you hated me." It didn't matter that he whispered, Hermione still heard the pain in his voice.

"Harry," Hermione whispered back, "please look at me." He turned to her, and when his eyes met hers, she gasped at the raw pain she saw in them. Most people who had been through anything similar to what Harry had learned to hide what they felt, but Harry wore his heart on his sleeve. Hermione let go of his arms, and held his face between her hands, preparing to do what she should have done a long time ago.

Harry turned to look at her, and was surprised by the tears he saw in her eyes. When she took his face between her hands, he was surprised that she would want to be in the room with someone who had done to themselves what he had.

But Hermione wasn't done with surprises yet. She whispered to him, "I have never, do not, and will never hate you." He was about to protest, but he suddenly found her lips on his. Any thoughts of protest at that point left his head. She pulled back with a shy smile, but he pulled her back for more! She had time for a surprised gasp before melting into Harry's arms. There last kiss was fleeting and soft, where this one was needy and passionate.

At least, it was until they heard a "hmm hmm" that was reminiscent of Umbridge. They pulled apart blushing, having forgotten Hermione's parents. Harry shot a sheepish glance their way. He was surprised to see that both of her parents were smiling.

"Well, Hermione, it took you long enough," Mrs. Granger teased her daughter.

"You mean you're not upset with me?" Harry asked, completely surprised.

Mr. Granger laughed, and said, "Harry, if we had to hear Hermione say one more thing about you, we would have stuffed our ears with cotton. My wife here, Emma, found her journal once. We didn't read it, of course, but we did see that the front said 'Hermione Potter'!"

The kids' faces turned scarlet, and they both looked down. This, of course, made the adults laugh that much harder.

Just then, Vernon decided to yell up, "Hey, freak, you still need to clean up breakfast!"

The faces of the three Granger's quickly lost their cheerful nature, becoming exceedingly angry at the slavery of Harry and the obvious fact that he'd barely eaten since he got here, judging from the fact that they could definitely count his ribs and they were fairly certain that they could see his organs through the skin of his stomach.

Mr. Granger decided Harry should not have to put up with this and yelled back, "Hey, asshole, clean up your own damn mess!" There was a moment of dead silence downstairs, and Hermione could see that Harry's eyes had become extremely fearful. She suddenly remembered the marks on his back, and could understand why.

Sound suddenly returned to number four Privet Drive, and Vernon came to the bottom of the stairs with a purple face, and shouted up at the male Granger, "Who the fuck do you think you are, telling me what to do in my own house!"

Harry was shaking with fear; there was nothing they could do to the Dursleys, Harry needed them so he could be safe from Voldemort, plus, he was at their mercy for at least a few more weeks, since that was how long he had to be there.

Mr. Granger, however, was not aware of this. He was aware that the fat man with the purple face had tortured a child, and he couldn't stand child abuse. There was no way in hell he was letting this go. "I think I'm Dan Granger, and as far as I'm concerned, you deserve a lot more than being told what to do! I would love to beat the shit out of you right now for what you did to that defenseless boy! Unfortunately, that same boy requested I don't. If not for him, I would have bloody beaten you already! So don't push me if you don't want to see the gates of Hell early!"

Hermione and Emma Granger were staring at Dan, impressed with his dressing down of the abusive bastard. "Go Dad!" Hermione cheered. Dan glanced at her with a hint of amusement, then he saw Harry shaking. Frowning, he started to move towards him.

Vernon, unfortunately, didn't seem to get that he had lost the argument. The momentary shock he received had worn off, and he was shouting back, "That's not a boy, it's a freak! Now get out of my bloody house before I call the police!"

Dan, of course, had no worries about that. "Ha! Go ahead and call the police," he retorted, "try and explain Harry's back to them!" He waited until he saw Vernon's face pale with understanding before turning away this time.

His wife had moved into the room with Harry and Hermione, and the two women were sitting on the bed with Harry between them as they comforted him. Dan saw that he was still shaking. He joined the rest of his family in the room with a frown. He thought he understood why Harry was scared, and said, "Son, don't worry, you can come with us. You don't have to worry about repercussions from them." To his utter shock, Harry broke down.

Hermione was not having the day she had hoped for. She thought she would be able relax with her friend today, but instead she had seen him cry twice today! The only other time she could recall seeing Harry cry was at the end of the third task while holding Cedric's body.

What she couldn't understand was why he was crying this time. The previous time was because he was afraid of losing Hermione, but what was it this time? She was so grateful to her dad for offering to take Harry in. So why was Harry crying?

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "Why are you crying? Don't you want to live with us?" She struggled to keep the hurt out of her voice-and failed miserably.

"It's not that I don't want to live with you guys," Harry said between sobs, "I would love to! You guys are great! But I can't. Dumbledore finally told me why he brought me to the Dursleys." Hermione listened with horror as he explained the prophecy and the blood wards.

"My God," Emma Granger murmured, "I'm so sorry Harry."

Harry shook his head angrily. He didn't want pity. "I don't want your pity," he snapped back. Then he realized he had snapped, burst into tears again, and said, "I'm sorry I snapped." Though this was muffled by his hands holding his face, they knew what he said.

Hermione was thinking. She had finally kissed Harry! But now, because she had come here, his relatives were more of a danger to him than ever. How could she keep him safe? She had an idea, and stood up quickly.

Harry unfortunately took this the wrong way, thinking Hermione was distancing herself from him. Hermione heard his gasp, and whirled to him, saying soothingly, "Relax, Harry, I just want to talk to my dad for a moment." She waited until he acknowledged her, then turned back to her father, gesturing to the now open hallway.

They closed the door behind them, and Dan knew exactly what his daughter was thinking. "Absolutely not," he said.

"Dad, you don't even know what I'm going to say!" Hermione complained.

"You're going to say that you think you should stay her to protect Harry," he said. She seemed surprised he got it right. "If you think I'm going to let you stay at your boyfriend's house with his abusive family, you have another thing coming. I'm not letting my daughter into danger if I can help it."

Hermione hugged her father for his protectiveness. However, she wasn't done yet. "Dad, what would you do if you were in my place and Mum was in Harry's?"

She heard her father sigh. He should have known she wouldn't give up without a fight. "I would do exactly what you're trying to do, young lady. And it wouldn't have worked for me, either."

Well, if he wasn't giving up, she had to fight dirty. She whispered to her father, "Dad, how can you expect me to leave him to those pieces of filth? Especially knowing that we made it worse by coming here?"

"I-I d-don't see h-how that h-has anything to d-do with it," he stuttered.

Hermione smiled. She had him now. "But Daddy," she said, "with me here, I can threaten them with you if they do anything to me or Harry. And Harry's too honorable to do anything with me. If anything, _I_ would have to force _him_, and I'm not ready for that."

Dan was in a bind. He had made Harry's situation worse, but had the potential to make it better. The problem was, the solution possibly put his daughter at risk. She had defused that potential, and Death Eaters couldn't get here either. In some ways, she was actually safer. Damn, he was going to let his daughter stay. He sighed. "Fine," he said, disgruntled.

Hermione squealed excitedly, and bounced into Harry's room to tell him. She should have guessed his response…


	3. Company

_Hermione squealed excitedly, and bounced into Harry's room to tell him. She should have guessed his response…_

Harry was not pleased to hear Hermione's plan at all. He was scared enough about what the Dursleys were going to do to him already, he wasn't letting them anywhere near Hermione.

"You don't want me?" She asked.

Harry sighed. "Of course I want you, but-"

Hermione cut him off, saying, "Good, because I'm staying."

In a final attempt to get her to listen to reason, he asked, "But where will you sleep?"

She said, "In your bed, of course!" There was no way her parents-or Harry-were letting that happen! They all tried to give their reasons for why that was such a bad idea, and for a few moments, she let them. Then she raised her hand, and said, "And you can sleep on the floor, like a gentleman."

Stymied for a moment, Harry pondered how he could stop her. Then he realized she wouldn't want him in pain, and asked, "What about my back?"

The faces of the Grangers clouded at the reminder, and Hermione knew she wasn't letting Harry sleep on the floor with his back as mangled as it was. "Alright, I'll sleep on the floor, and you sleep on the bed," she suggested.

"Not a chance!" Harry said. "Knowing my uncle, he'd come barging in and step on you!"

"Fine, I'll sleep on the couch!" Hermione was too determined, they weren't stopping her. "You said you only had to stay for another two weeks to strengthen the wards, anyway."

"I accept defeat," sighed Harry.

Dan laughed, saying, "You'll make a great husband someday, if you keep that up, Harry!"

The women glared at him, while Harry thought about what having Hermione at the Dursleys would be like. He just couldn't imagine it. They were so mean, and she was so nice. How could he get her into this?

While Hermione and her parents were discussing how to get Hermione's clothes to the Dursleys, Harry was once more contemplating how he managed to get people into dangerous situations.

Hermione was busily discussing getting her clothes to the Dursleys when she glanced at Harry. One look at his face, and she knew what he was thinking. Momentarily forgetting the bruises and how skinny he was, she smacked him in the stomach.

At his wince, her eyes widened at what she had done. "I'm so sorry Harry, I forgot! I just don't want you to think that you're putting me in danger."

He responded, "Don't worry about it, I've had worse, and I am dragging you into a dangerous situation."

Hermione felt an incredible rage towards the Dursleys for their actions towards that could make him say so casually that he had had worse. For now, she would let it go. But, she still pointed out, "Harry, you're not dragging me into danger, I'm dragging you out of it at minimal chance of danger to me."

Harry snorted. "How do you figure it's 'minimal danger' to you?" He asked.

"Well, if you had let me explain earlier, if your relatives," she spat the word, "try anything, I threaten them with a call to Dad, here, who will then call the police."

"But you can't, I have to stay with them," Harry said, almost in tears at the thought that he had to stay with them.

Hermione went to him and hugged him. "Relax, Harry," she said, "They don't know that! Besides, you only have to stay with your aunt. So if we call the police on your uncle, and say your aunt had nothing to do with it, then he gets thrown in jail, and we can hold that sword over your aunt."

"I'm so glad I'm dating the smartest witch ever," Harry said happily, before giving her a kiss.

"Dad, can I please have your cell phone?" Hermione asked her father after they broke off the kiss.

"Why?" He asked suspiciously.

"So that I can make sure to call you if the bastards downstairs try to keep me from the phone," Hermione responded vehemently. They were all shocked to hear her language, but given the subject, her parents were more than willing to let it go.

"Here you go, honey," her father said, handing her the phone. "I'll make sure to bring you your own tomorrow with your clothes."

He still couldn't believe it. Had anyone told him even an hour ago that he would let his daughter stay with her boyfriend and his extremely abusive relatives, he would have laughed in their face. He sighed again.

Hermione watched her parents carefully to see how they were about her staying with Harry. She had been surprised when her mother hadn't objected, but then realized just how alike they were.

When she heard her father sigh again, she watched him even more closely, making sure he wasn't going to change his mind. She was a little puzzled when she saw a sadistic looking smile grow on her father's face. "Dad..?" She asked cautiously.

Dan realized the expression on his face, and was surprised to realize he didn't care how violent he looked right now. "I'm alright, honey, I just can't wait to threaten that pompous ass!" He responded to his daughter.

Hermione couldn't help the giggle caused by her father's words. She just wished she could use magic!

Hermione abruptly stopped giggling when she saw the look on Harry's face; it looked like envy and sadness.

Harry watched Hermione's easy interactions with her parents, and couldn't help the feelings that came over him. The strongest was envy that she had parents when he didn't, but he tried to push that down. Then there was the sadness about the loss of his parents. And finally, the emotion Hermione couldn't see, joy; he was glad that she had such a loving family that had turned her into the wonderful, beautiful women he saw before him today. To a lesser extent, there was also the joy that they seemed to accept him and want to defend him.

He didn't have much time to analyze these feelings, though, because as soon as he felt them, his beautiful girlfriend had wrapped her arms around him. He didn't even notice the pain in his back. After living with the Dursleys combined with his guilt about the events at the Ministry, Harry had truly believed what they said about no one ever wanting him. He couldn't help the joy that flowed through him with the knowledge that there was a person who actually knew him, and wanted him anyway! He clutched at her, returning her hug with enthusiasm.

Once again, the Umbridge impersonation interrupted them, though this time it was from Hermione's father, rather than her mum. They broke apart after a few moments, and looked at Dan with a little blush coloring both of their cheeks. Harry was surprised to see a gentle smile on the face of Hermione's father. Wasn't he supposed to try and chase Harry away?

Once more, tears sprang to his eyes, and he hastily looked away, wiping at his eyes with his sleeves. "It's dusty in here," Harry lied, fooling no one. The hearts of all three Grangers broke at the young man's reaction to care.

Dan cleared his throat again, and said, "Let's go face the Dursleys." No one could miss the edge to his voice or the wicked gleam in his eye. Even Harry, brought up as he was, noticed it. None of them could deny wanting to hurt the Dursleys, though Harry would have been shocked had he been able to recognize the true depth of protection the Grangers felt for him.

Harry tried to go first, just in case the Dursleys were enraged enough to attack, but Dan forcefully told him he was going second. He had endured enough, and Dan was sure that even someone who had less common sense than an amoeba wouldn't attack him. Harry was going to try and insist, but saw the determination in Dan's eyes and acquiesced.

They went downstairs with Dan in front and Emma bringing up the end. Hermione was behind Harry, clutching at his arm nervously. She didn't realize she was chafing the cuts on his arms, and he didn't say anything; he needed the affection too much.

Dan was the spearhead of the assault, and went straight for Vernon. "Alright you overstuffed walrus," he began angrily, ignoring the snorts of laughter behind him, "it's time to set things straight.

"First off, I absolutely _hate_ child abuse! I would love nothing more than to beat you into a tiny pulp, then call the police. Unfortunately, your nephew here made me promise I wouldn't do that. I agreed. For now. Unfortunately for you, my daughter was not willing to leave your nephew here alone to face your wrath. The obvious answer was to simply take Harry and leave-"

At this point, Vernon made a mistake. He interrupted Dan, saying, "Please, take the little freak, useless sack-" a fist backed by a furious Dan Granger ended whatever he was about to say.

"Never. Interrupt. Me. Again," the furious man said to the mass of jelly that was Vernon Dursley.

"As I was saying, the obvious answer was to simply take Harry and leave, but for some unfathomable reason, he insisted on staying for at least another two weeks. I don't understand it, but Hermione seems to, and she insists on not leaving him alone. So she's staying here to keep an eye on you, your wife, and your son. If you do anything to harm either of them, she'll call me up, and I'll call the police. Even without the evidence on Harry's back, I have a few strings I could pull that would have you lost in the system for at least a week."

By this point, Vernon's had turned pale, as had his wife and. They all knew what would happen if the police were called. Dan was not at all upset by the effect he was having on them. "Now that I have your undivided attention," Dan continued, "I'll set a few ground rules.

"As I said before, I _hate_ child abuse! No more of it! If my daughter tells me of one more mark on Harry, you'll be lucky if I call the police.

"Second, teaching a child responsibility is one thing, but making them your slave disgusts me. Harry will not be cooking, cleaning, or doing any other chores for you for the next two weeks.

"Finally, you _will_ feed him and Hermione a proper meal. If I hear anything about the fact that Harry is starving again, I'll shove you all into the broom cupboard Hermione tells me you used to keep Harry in. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Dan thundered. None of the Dursleys were capable of coherency at this point, and simply nodded.

Emma was just staring at Dan, her love and pride for him showing very clearly. Harry and Hermione were also staring at him; Hermione loved him intensely for standing up for her boyfriend, and Harry seemed to have a case of hero worship. The only people he had seen who stood up to the Dursleys all had magic; the fact that someone without magic was doing it-and causing them to cower in a corner-was absolutely amazing to Harry. It elevated Dan above the status of mere mortals for him.

While the Dursleys stayed huddled in their corner, the Grangers and Harry went to the door for their goodbye. He was pleasantly surprised when both of the adult Grangers gave him hugs goodbye, though he couldn't contain the winces.

Hermione let Harry say goodbye to her parents first because she knew her goodbye would take longer. She _was_ the brightest witch of her age after all! When her father whispered to her to do everything she could to make Harry's relatives lives a waking nightmare, she giggled and whispered back that she was already planning it. Her mother just told her to keep safe, and that Harry was a keeper. Hermione blushed a little bit, and said that she already knew that.

After her parents drove away, Hermione dragged her willing victim into the kitchen, shooting a glare at the Dursleys that was so filled with loathing, contempt, and hatred, that they decided they would just stay in the corner for a little longer. "Come on, Harry, you need food!" Hermione said to him. He just laughed and followed. Soon, they were heading up to his room with a plate of sandwiches that would feed a good portion of Africa or Dudley.

Harry couldn't even eat one; he hadn't eaten in two days, and eating at all made him nauseous after that long. Hermione simply put the sandwiches into a bag she had made at Hogwarts that would keep them from going bad. Harry just smiled at her forethought. Who else would think to do that?

Hermione struggled to contain herself. She knew that living with the Dursleys wasn't easy for Harry, and she also knew that he needed to talk to bleed the poison out. Harry was stubborn, though, and she knew it wouldn't be that easy to get him to talk. She decided she would start tomorrow, after her parents brought her clothes.

They stayed up talking for a while, waiting until they knew the Dursleys were asleep before Hermione went to lie on the couch, and Harry went to his bed, feeling guilty that Hermione was on the couch, of course.

Before she left his room, she kissed him softly, whispered, "Goodnight, Harry," and tucked him in. She knew he'd never had anyone do this for him before, and decided it was the least she could do for her abused boyfriend. _Tomorrow,_ she thought, _we talk._


	4. A Waking Nightmare

_Before she left his room, she kissed him softly, whispered, "Goodnight, Harry," and tucked him in. She knew he'd never had anyone do this for him before, and decided it was the least she could do for her abused boyfriend. _Tomorrow_, she thought, _we talk.

"_Harry, how could you?" Sirius wailed at him. "I haven't even been dead a month! Is it so much to ask that you mourn me a little bit?"_

"_I'm sorry Sirius," Harry was wailing, "I'm so sorry! I'm not trying to forget you! I swear!"_

"_Right," Sirius sneered, "that explains your girlfriend!"_

_Harry had no defense against this, and just curled up and sobbed as Sirius threw angry insults. "Wake up, Harry!" Sirius said. But the voice was different. It was pleading with him. "Wake up!"_

Harry woke with a start to Hermione's tearful face. Seeing he was awake, she instantly began to try and comfort him. "Everything's okay, Harry, it was just a nightmare," she said soothingly to him. Harry just continued to sob and let himself be comforted. Eventually exhausted, he fell asleep in her arms.

Hermione looked down at Harry, and sighed. She hated to see him like this. At the same time, his caring nature was what she loved about him. She just wished those bloody relatives of his could give a damn about him! Harry was strong, he didn't need much. One caring word from them, and he would have happily done anything they wanted.

She looked down at Harry, and smiled. He looked so peaceful now. She hoped he would stay that way. She gently pulled away from him, and went back downstairs. She hoped that knowing Harry was resting peacefully at last would allow her to sleep. It wasn't long before she was asleep with a smile.

A few hours later, she bolted upright at the sound of a scream she recognized as Harry's-she'd heard it often enough through the years. She was up the stairs so quickly that she would have thought she had apparated if she hadn't known better. The sight before her enraged her; Dudley was holding a studded belt, tearing Harry apart with it.

Her scream of rage froze Dudley as he pulled back for another swing. She could see from the marks on Harry's back that he'd swung a lot more than just once. Besides that, she knew that Harry could take the Cruciatus without screaming, so it would take a lot more than the single swing of even a studded belt.

If Hermione could have seen herself at that moment, she would have been shocked out of her rage. As it was, she unconsciously gathered her magic to her as she took a step towards Dudley. Even Harry's muggle cousin could feel the magic. He didn't like it.

Hermione couldn't take her eyes off of Harry's back; it was so bloody! Dudley decided to try and take advantage of her distraction and went to knock her out. Hermione was having none of it. She may not know what she was doing, now, but later she would realize that she had used magic to heighten her reflexes and increase her strength. Dudley didn't even have the benefit of anger to lessen the pain. All he knew was that his fist had been flying towards the girl's head, then it was caught in her hand. Her hand couldn't even cover his, but that didn't stop her from crushing all of the bones in it. His scream made Hermione smile.

It wasn't until Harry screamed her name-for the third time-that she recalled her surroundings. She saw that Harry was trying to get up, and released Dudley's hand-or whatever it was now-to help him. "Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry about me," Hermione cried, "what about you?"

"I'll be fine in a little while," Harry said. When he saw her doubtful look, he didn't consider how she would react when he said, "I always have been." He probably would have kept that part to himself had he considered her reaction.

Dudley was still crying on the ground holding his ruined hand when Hermione heard Harry's last sentence. With a scream of rage she turned, and-having unconsciously strengthened herself with magic again-kicked him through the doorway and into the hallway. She was very pleased at the sound of cracking ribs.

"Hermione," Harry gasped, "Please stop. He gets the message."

Hermione whirled back around to face him. "He should have gotten it the first time!" She shouted with a mix of anger and despair. Unable to take the strain of what took just a few short minutes, she collapsed, sobbing, into Harry's arms. She couldn't help but wonder why the house was shaking.

Harry had been able to get himself into a sitting position by this point, and was making gently soothing sounds. "It will be okay Hermione. I'm right here. I won't leave you. Please stop shaking, love, you're scaring me."

_Oh,_ Hermione thought to herself. _Of course the house isn't shaking. I am._ Using logic helped to calm her down. Soon, she had stopped shaking or crying. She looked up at Harry to thank him, but realized his eyes were closed. He was swaying and barely conscious. Despite what he had said earlier, he had rarely been beaten this badly. After all, it was the first time since he had first gone to Hogwarts that they had gotten him to scream. Also, sitting up made him lose the blood that much faster.

What Hermione wanted to do at the moment was freak out. However, she knew she couldn't. She was the only one in a position to help Harry right now. She had to think quickly. _Come on, Granger, what could be doing this to him!_ It didn't take her long to think of blood loss. She had to slow or stop the bleeding.

She leaped out of his arms to take action. She pulled him off the bed, and put him face down on the ground. She found the shirt he had been beaten in yesterday, put it on the wound, and applied pressure. She had to struggle to control herself when she saw the bloody puddle on his bed. Harry needed her to be in control right now.

Just then, the doorbell rang. _Who could that be?_ Hermione thought to herself, exasperated. The obvious answer came to her in seconds. Her parents were here. They may not have been M.D.s, but they dealt with blood often enough as dentists. Though Harry couldn't hear her, it made Hermione feel better to whisper a quick apology to him for leaving. She then raced down the stairs and flung open the door.

She didn't say hello to her parents, there wasn't time. "Mum, Dad, please help Harry," she pleaded, unaware of the tears flowing down her face. Not trusting herself to explain the situation, she grabbed her parents' hands and pulled them up the stairs. When they reached Harry's room, Hermione released their hands, and went to the form on the floor. She removed the shirt from Harry's back so her parents could see, and was whispering through her tears to an unaware Harry. "Harry, you're going to be alright. Mum and Dad are here, and I know they can fix you. I know they can."

Meanwhile, Dan and Emma took in the damage to the young man's back. No amount of professionalism could keep them from holding in their shock that someone could do such damage to a child. They steeled themselves, glanced at each other, and nodded.

"Hermione," Emma interrupted her daughter's whispers, "please go find us some alcohol and a cloth and bring them back to us. When you come back, I'll have more for you to do."

Hermione leaped up and ran from the room, glad someone else was taking charge. It wasn't hard to find the alcohol, no one had bothered to hide it, and there were cloths for cleaning all around. Hermione spitefully took the nicest one she saw before running up the stairs.

"I've got the stuff, Mum," Hermione said as she burst into the room. Emma glanced up at her, then shifted her gaze to the bottle and cloth. She took them both, and Hermione heard her say something about the alcohol 'being strong enough'.

Emma passed the items to her husband. Turning back to Hermione, she said calmly, "Hermione, in the living room I saw a sewing kit. Could you please grab it and bring it up here?"

Hermione struggled not to think of what that meant as she flew down the stairs, spotted the sewing kit, grabbed it, and flew back up the stairs. Emma took the kit from her and said, "Hermione, we need another cloth. Could you please-" Emma stopped as Hermione was already downstairs. Emma had known that another cloth was going to be needed, but she needed Hermione to be kept busy and burn off her nervous energy. When Hermione returned with another cloth, they took it from, soaked it in alcohol, and wiped down Harry's back. The blood flow was slowing, which could have been good or bad at this point.

Hermione couldn't keep her mind off this fact, so she was grateful when her mother asked her to go downstairs for three final items. The first two weren't bad. They were a water bottle and a new cloth. It was the third one that had her worried. A lighter. She struggled not to think about it, but it proved impossible for Hermione to not think. And right at this moment, she was thinking cauterization.

Once Hermione was back upstairs, Emma once again took the items from her. They rinsed Harry's back off with the water, and examined it. They focused on the new marks. They then checked Harry's pulse to make sure he would be able to take the shock. They found his pulse to be surprisingly strong.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Dan dipped the thread into the alcohol and brushed it against the cuts from today. His hands were shaking, and he was tempted to pass this task to Emma. But he knew her hands would be worse, so he steeled himself until it was done.

He then picked the lighter up off the floor, and told his daughter to go downstairs. She refused. He looked her in the eye, testing her resolve. She wasn't ready for this. But there was no way she was leaving, either. He sighed, and lit the back of one of the bravest young men he had ever met on fire, grateful that the young man was unconscious.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the Grangers, and they gagged at the smell of cooking meat. It wasn't helped by the sizzling sound. Even unconscious, Harry was twitching at the assault on his back.

Across the hall, Dudley had regained consciousness and decided it would be a good idea for him to go to his room. None of the Granger's noticed when his door closed. They all noticed when the adult Dursleys came out, though. It was mostly because Vernon had unfortunately decided to make a comment.

"I don't usually go for pork in the morning," he said obliviously, "but that smells delicious!"

Dan was not in a good mood. And it was never a good idea to piss off someone who used to be in SAS. Normally, Dan had a very easygoing temperament. But after seeing the one man he actually approved of for his daughter in the state he was and then being forced to cauterize him, Dan wanted someone to hurt. Vernon Dursley had made the very unwise decision of making sure he was going to feel the pain. Also, he was unaware that Dudley had been the on to whip Harry and was under the impression it was Vernon.

"You _bloody whale!_" He screamed at Vernon. "That's you're _fucking nephew!_ I was forced to _cauterize_ almost his _entire back_ after what you did to it!" His fist was raised when Hermione told him that it was, in fact, Dudley, who had done this to Harry.

His fist still raised, Dan demanded, "And where the fuck were _you_ while your son tortured you nephew?" Vernon may not have been the one to raise his hand against Harry this time, but he was the one who taught Dudley it was okay behavior.

"S-sleeping," a now terrified Vernon said.

Dan almost hit the roof. "_**WHAT?**_"

"I-I took a pill to h-help me s-sleep," Vernon managed to stutter out. "P-Petunia t-took t-two."

Unfortunately for Vernon, Dan's patience had run out. He was tired of excuses. He hadn't fought in a long time, but he still packed a powerful punch. Vernon collapsed in almost the same spot his son had earlier. "Now it's his son's turn," Dan vowed darkly, after checking that the fire had gone out on Harry's back as it should have.

Harry, with his usual tendency to save people, chose that moment to wake up.


	5. Family Day

_Unfortunately for Vernon, Dan's patience had run out. He was tired of excuses. He hadn't fought in a long time, but he still packed a powerful punch. Vernon collapsed in almost the same spot his son had earlier. "Now it's his son's turn," Dan vowed darkly, after checking that the fire had gone out on Harry's back as it should have._

_Harry, with his usual tendency to save people, chose that moment to wake up._

Hermione, of course, was the first one to get to him, followed closely by Emma and reluctantly by Dan, who still felt Dudley deserved a good beating. He didn't know that Hermione had done that for him already.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered to him desperately. "Are you okay?"

Harry, as usual, replied, "I'm fine, 'Mione. What about you? The last thing I remember was holding you while you cried."

Dan and Emma looked at Hermione. They hadn't heard that part. It was at that point that Harry noticed them. Still a little drunk on pain, he said, "Oh, hello Mr. and Mrs. Granger. When did you get here?" He tried to get up to greet them. And fell back down. "Sorry I can't greet you, there seems to be something wrong with my back." He frowned at it, as though it had disappointed him.

Unnoticed to him, both Hermione and Emma were crying at this point. Even Dan was struggling with the urge to cry. He had been whipped with a studded leather belt to within an inch of his life, and disappointed he couldn't get up. What was wrong with people who could make him think like that?

After a moment of silence, Dan cleared his throat, saying roughly, "It's alright Harry, you don't need to get up. Just rest for a while."

Harry frowned, protesting, "I need to greet my girlfriend's parents. It's respectful. I just can't seem to get up."

The way Harry seemed unable to process reality gave Hermione on of the least pleasant thoughts she could ever remember having. _What if the pain drove him insane? He was so frail, it wouldn't take as much…._

Hermione couldn't take that thought, and fled from the room. "Hermione?" Harry called. There was no answer. Harry's thoughts crystallized. He knew what happened with Dudley. There was no way he was losing Hermione over this. He stood up.

The two adults cried out in alarm, saying he must rest. After swaying for a moment, he shook his head, saying, "With all due respect, I refuse to not at least try and go after Hermione. She's too important to ne for that. I can rest when I'm dead."

Dan didn't think his daughter could have picked a better man. He reached out and shook Harry's hand. "Harry," he said, "it will be a pleasure to have you as a son-in-law one day."

Emma couldn't agree more, and gave Harry her arm support, with the simple persuasion, "If you insist on going after me daughter, I insist on helping you." Although Harry would never admit it, he was grateful for the support.

It took him a few minutes to get down the stairs-even with the help of the people he knew would one day be his in-laws. He was surprised that they had accepted him so fast, but he would ask Hermione about it later. But right now, he could hear her crying, and comforting her came first.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry asked quietly once he made it to the couch.

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. She was shocked for a moment that he was standing. It took her a moment longer than usual to start reprimanding him. "Harry, you should be resting…."

Harry started to chuckle, and released Emma's arm. Hermione moved towards him to keep him from falling. It was exactly what he wanted. He grabbed her in a surprisingly enthusiastic hug, considering the state of his back. "I'm glad things are back to normal, Hermione."

Dan and Emma shared a worried glance; how was this normal? But their shocks weren't over yet. Harry wasn't done. "Hermione, being with you is plenty of rest. You're presence keeps me calm. How was I supposed to sit there when half of me had left? And why did you leave?"

_God I love him,_ Hermione thought to herself. She just wished he hadn't had to mature so fast. She wrapped her arms around his neck so she didn't have to think about the fact that his back was basically a giant burn. "I'm sorry, Harry," she began-

"No!" He interrupted. She pulled back from him, startled for a second. "Don't you dare be sorry! Me being sorry is why there are belt marks on my back, cuts on my arms, and cuts on my legs."

She decided to ignore the fact that there were cuts on his legs for now, and just continue where she left off. "Harry, you were lying on the ground, barely aware of reality. All I could think of was that you were going insane, just like Neville's parents, and I-I c-couldn't bear the thought, and-" Hermione was very surprised to feel Harry's lips on hers. She would never get tired of it.

After a minute, Harry pulled back and said, "You were saying?"

"Wow." Hermione said. "I don't remember."

"I believe it was something along the lines of me forgetting something for a moment meant I was going insane," Harry said helpfully, smirking at her dazed expression.

"Oh, yeah," she said. Then she realized what he had done, and protested, "Hey!"

"So you've changed your opinion then?" Harry asked, still smirking.

"Yes, I have," she retorted.

"That's a pity," he said. "I was hoping it meant you were crazy about me."

Hermione blushed, and her parents-the ones the couple had forgotten about-just laughed at the scene.

"Now, if everyone is in a better mood," Harry began, "I would like to know what happened."

"So would we," Mr. Granger said, looking at Hermione.

"Right, well…" and with that Hermione launched into the tale.

At the end, which was the part where Harry woke up, Mr. Granger leaned back and said, "Wow, I guess I don't have to beat the whale's son. My daughter already did."

Hermione blushed, but Harry's face was a bit darker. "Maybe, but I think he deserves more." Everyone agreed, thinking he was referring to the belt he'd been beaten with. Apparently, no one was following his train of thought. "How dare he try to hit Hermione!" He exclaimed venomously.

"What about what he did to you?" Hermione exclaimed in protest.

"I don't care about that!" Harry said dismissively. "I _do_ care about you."

Hermione just gave an exasperated sigh. "On the topic of what he did to you," Hermione began heatedly, "why didn't you cry out sooner? I could have stopped him earlier!"

"I told you, I don't care about that," Harry reiterated, "but you needed your sleep."

The Grangers just looked at him. They adults had heard from Hermione how selfless he was, but this seemed extreme. And Hermione knew there was something he wasn't saying. However, it still wasn't even noon, and everyone was already exhausted.

Emma said she was making lunch, and Dan was setting the table. Hermione said she was picking up afterwards. Harry was told to sit there and pretend to be happy about being served. He wasn't very good at pretending.

The rest of the day was spent playing cards, and just being together. No one was upset to not see the Dursleys, even if they were curious.

Hermione was just upset that she hadn't had an opportunity to talk to Harry yet. _Tomorrow_, she swore to herself.


	6. Memory Lane

_Hermione was just upset that she hadn't had an opportunity to talk to Harry yet. _Tomorrow_, she swore to herself._

Hermione opened her eyes, to the sunlight, thankful she had woken up normally today. She had no idea what she would have done if his screams had woken her again. She was fairly certain that the cause would not survive, though.

Figuring that Harry was still asleep, and wanting to surprise him, she walked quietly up the stairs, and opened the door.

She never would have imagined what she saw! "Harry James Potter," she said, doing her best to keep from crying, "why were you holding that piece of bloody glass?"

Harry looked exactly like a little kid with their hand in the cookie jar. And just like a little kid with their hand in their cookie jar, he wanted to deny everything. But this was Hermione. He had to tell her the truth. With a sigh, he rolled up his sleeves.

Hermione gasped. Each arm had at least a dozen new cuts. She took a step inside, and closed the door. It was time to talk.

"Okay, Harry," Hermione said as she joined him sitting on the bed, "start at the beginning."

So he did. He told her about the broom cupboard. He told her about learning to cook and clean at the age of four. He told her that, when he cut or burnt himself, he was locked in his cupboard without that meal or any other. It was the same if the food didn't taste good enough, or the rooms weren't clean enough. At the age of six, they started to make him weed the garden, shovel the driveway, or rake the lawn depending on the season. Just before they entered school, Dudley realized that if he did something mean to Harry, he was rewarded. And if he complained about Harry for something like looking at him funny, Harry was locked in the cupboard for the day or immediately after school, while Dudley was 'compensated' for 'putting up with the little freak'. It wasn't long before Dudley came up with Harry Hunting. It wasn't difficult to learn; all you had to do was catch Harry and beat the shit out of him. If his grades were better than Dudley's, he was paddled and locked in the cupboard. Christmas Day, he cooked breakfast, was given a pair of socks, shoved in his cupboard, and told, 'Happy Christmas, Freak'.

Then there was the accidental magic. Aunt Petunia would cut his hair short, except for the bangs, to hide 'that hideous scar'. He was paddled, sent to school without any lunch, and locked in his cupboard when he got home. When Aunt Petunia tried to get Harry into some really hideous clothing that once belonged to Dudley, it shrank until it wouldn't fit him anymore. Again, there was the paddle, no food, and the cupboard. One time, when he was running from Dudley's gang, he went to jump behind some trash barrels, and ended up on the roof. He was older now, so his uncle introduced him to the belt. Then the incident at the petting zoo with the boa constrictor. The look on Dudley's fat face was worth the hiding he took from his uncle's belt. Not even the fact that he wasn't allowed to eat for week had dimmed his joy of that incident.

"After that," Harry said, "were all of my summer vacations. You already know about those."

Long before midway, Hermione had crawled onto Harry's lap so she could hug him while he told his story. Not because he needed the comfort, but because she did. Several times, he asked if she wanted him to stop, because she was crying so badly. But she insisted he go on.

She thought that she might finally understand him. The Dursleys had spent every second they could drilling into Harry that he was nothing, a nobody. Every time something had gone wrong, he had taken the blame. He was raised being told that he was just a burden, the cause of all of their misfortunes.

And he had believed them.

For the first time in her life, Hermione found herself trying to resist using the Unforgivables. Never had it been this hard. Right now, she hated the Dursleys more than Voldemort. In fact, she would have trouble refusing an invitation to be a Death Eater if they offered that she could torture the Dursleys. It was a dark side to herself she wasn't ready to face. So she turned back to Harry's problem.

"Harry," she said, "I want you to listen to me closely. And I want you to believe what I have to say. Okay? I want you to see how much I mean what I'm saying. It would help if you would look me in the eye." She waited until he looked her in the eye. "Harry, not everything is your fault. We followed you to the Ministry. You did not force us to come. You did not force Sirius to come. You did not force Dolohov to cast that spell at me." His eyes were watering at this time, and he tried to look away. Hermione forced his eyes back to hers. She willed him to believe what she was saying.

And suddenly she wasn't in her own head anymore. She was in Harry's. _Harry?_ She thought. She felt surprise. Then, _Hermione?_ That was definitely Harry's voice. Interesting. She was in Harry's mind, but nothing she had read about legillimency seemed like this. _Do you trust me, Harry?_ She asked with her mind. She got the reply, _Absolutely_, without any sign of hesitation or reservation. _Would you mind if I went through your memories?_ She asked. She immediately felt him tense up, and the thought of Snape entered her mind. Finally, she heard the reply she had hoped for; _No, I wouldn't mind._

She concentrated on bringing up the first memory he had, and then just lived them from there. She knew she could have ended it whenever she wanted, but she wanted to see their time together through his eyes. And the part she feared the most; the night at the Ministry.

She lived everything up to and including his discussion about his past. Although he seemed like a rock on the outside during the story, that was nowhere near the case on the inside. She felt bad, now, for commenting that boys have the emotional range of a teaspoon. Harry clearly didn't. Even knowing what he felt now, she couldn't believe it. How could one person feel pain, trust, love, regret, guilt, jealousy, healing, and-most commonly-insignificance at once?

_Well, you can't know everything,_ Harry thought, teasing her.

Hermione knew he wasn't really feeling playful, he just had to try and lighten the mood. _How much did you shield me from, Harry?_

_Unfortunately, nothing,_ he thought to her dejectedly, _I wanted to, but I knew you would have been unhappy with me._ And she could feel exactly how he would have taken that. The pain of just the _thought_ of it was enough to take her breath away.

She was suddenly back in her own body, looking up into Harry's anxious eyes. "Are you alright, love?" He asked concernedly.

After being in his mind, Hermione knew exactly how much he meant that last word. She smiled up at him, content that he had shared everything with her. "I'm great," she said. She was relieved to see his face lose just a little bit of tension.

"Now how do we get it to switch?" She asked. Harry just laughed, and hugged her.


	7. Worth It

"_Now how do we get it to switch?" She asked. Harry just laughed, and hugged her._

She smacked his arm playfully. "I'm serious Harry! I need you to see how much I meant what I said." She paused thoughtfully. "I also think it's only fair if you see my life."

"Fine," Harry sighed in defeat. "What were you thinking or feeling when you found yourself in my mind?"

She had to think back; she had just lived about thirteen years more of life! "I was trying to will you to see my point of view," she said, pleased with herself.

He gave her an odd look, saying, "Isn't that a bit backwards?"

She just smirked back, and said, "Ironic, isn't it?" He just shook his head at her, smiling a bit. Then it vanished, and he frowned. "What?" She asked.

He sighed and said, "This isn't gonna work."

"Why not?" She asked, puzzled.

"Well, for one thing, I don't really want you see my side; it's painful. For another, you've already seen it. It would be like trying to will you into existence; I wouldn't have to try."

She frowned for a moment. "I see your point," she sighed. For a moment they just sat there, holding each other. Out of the blue, Hermione brightened. "Harry," she said excitedly, "What if it's not _what_ we will, but _that_ we will?"

"Huh?" Harry was totally out of his depth here.

"Harry, I want you to look into my eyes, and _will _yourself into me." Harry raised his eyebrows at her, and she blushed, realizing how that sounded. She smacked his arm playfully. "Into my mind, silly! Maybe we'll try the other one later." She winked suggestively.

Harry stared at her for a minute, then shook himself. He glared at her. How do you expect me to _will_ anything when you do that to me?" He demanded. She just giggled.

They both took a moment to compose themselves with a deep breath, then looked each other in the eye. Harry barely needed to do anything before he found himself in Hermione's mind. _Hermione?_ He thought, startled.

He felt her surprise. _Harry?_

_I guess it worked,_ he thought, amused. _I wonder why it was so easy this time?_

_Can we discuss this later please?_ Hermione thought, slightly amused at the curiosity that was usually hers.

As if to emphasize her point, Harry thought to her with mock shock, _Hermione wants to delay studying something?_

_Yes, she does,_ Hermione responded with mock aloofness.

_Alright, Hermione, let's get this show on the road,_ Harry thought.

_Let's,_ came the agreement.

A swirl of images passed Harry, and he found himself in a classroom. _You're first memory would be of school,_ Harry thought to Hermione with amusement.

Instead of embarrassment, like he expected, Harry heard dejection in her answer, _Yes, it would._ Puzzled, he watched.

He soon discovered that Hermione was almost as outcast at school as he was. He struggled to control his rage at the students who mocked her. He comforted himself with the fact that she had a good a home life. And she did. But school was her own personal hell.

He tried to ignore it, but found that he couldn't. He clenched his fists, knowing it wouldn't make a difference if he tried to beat the pompous buffoon who thought he was hilarious. Finally, her eleventh birthday came. He fully shared in her joy that she finally knew what set her apart from other students!

The rest of the school year passed as usual, and Harry eagerly awaited Hogwarts. Like Hermione, he had read the books before going. She just had a better memory than he did. He was ashamed to realize that, once he'd met Ron, his study habits had fallen by the way-side. And because of Ron, he treated Hermione just as badly as the rest of those asses at her old school had. _I'm sorry,_ he whispered to her mentally as his heart broke.

_Keep watching._ He dutifully did as told. He saw the fight with the troll from her perspective, and realized that she thought he was brave. The thought warmed him. Watching himself through her eyes every year, he realized what she meant. She truly meant what she said; no one blamed him except him.

He opened his eyes back in his own mind, grabbed Hermione in a tight hug, and wept. He wept for his parents, for Hermione, and most of all for himself. Because he now knew he _was_ worth it. After a while he calmed down, and looked down at his great, smart, and beautiful girlfriend, and said simply, "Thank you, Hermione. I may not have said it before, but I appreciate everything you've ever done for me. That last one second to just one."

"What's it second to?" She wondered aloud.

"Being friends with me," he said simply. "Without that, none of this would have happened. I probably would have died in first year.

"Thank you, Hermione, for being you."


	8. Peace

"_Thank you, Hermione, for being you."_

Those words just kept going through her head. It wasn't just that he had said the words to her that made her so happy-it was knowing that he meant them.

She was about to say something similar when Petunia burst into the room; apparently, her drugs from yesterday had finally worn off. "What did you do to my Duddie-kins?" The bitter woman cried.

Hermione regretfully got off of Harry's lap and faced the woman. With a surprising amount of calmness, she responded, "I just gave him what he deserved."

The harpy's eyes flashed, and she raised her hand to slap the girl. Before she could, she felt a strong, painful grip on her wrist. Surprised-and a little scared-she looked up into Harry's eyes; the rage she saw in them mad her more than a little scared.

"_Never,"_ Harry spat, "raise your hand to Hermione. Understood?"

Terrified, the hateful woman just nodded obediently. Satisfied, Harry spun her around towards the door, and gave the woman a push, shutting the door behind her. He turned back to Hermione with a satisfied expression on his face. She beamed at him. Though he thought he knew, he asked why anyway.

"You faced your fears," Hermione responded simply, still smiling.

Harry grinned. "Unfortunately," he said, "I didn't." Seeing the surprise on her face, and knowing she would protest, he followed it up with, "After seeing everything through your eyes, she was just a small spiteful woman; I never faced her while afraid of her."

Hermione's smile saddened a little; she wished he had never been afraid of her in the first place. She also knew she wasn't going to do anything, no matter how much she wanted to; in spite of everything, Harry considered them family, and to an extent, he did love them.

Deciding to change the subject, she asked how his back was. He stretched a little, and frowned. "It doesn't hurt."

Although surprised, she felt a little better. Still, she had to check. "Turn around and lift up your shirt, please," she commanded. Harry raised his eyebrows suggestively again, making sure Hermione blushed before he did as commanded.

When she saw his back, she gasped. "What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked, trying to see. She didn't answer, just asked to see his arms. A little confused, he did as requested; they bath gasped at the sight of the unblemished skin.

Before either of them could say anything, an owl flew through his open window, dropping the letter in its beak. Harry grabbed it before Hermione could, and read it. He frowned and passed it to Hermione.

Mr. Harry James Potter and Ms. Hermione Jane Granger,

Record of a Healing charm has been recorded at your presence. Please refrain from using magic until you are of age, especially around muggles.

Sincerely,

Anna Smith

Head of the Department for the Use of Underage Magic

Hermione snorted after she read the letter. She tossed it to the side, and said, "It's a good thing you're the Chosen One again. Nothing else would have stopped them!"

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "and it looks like they fired the last head of the department, Matilda, or something like that."

"Indeed," Hermione agreed, "Fudge has been replaced by Scrimgeour, and Umbridge has been thrown out as well; it looks like anyone who disagreed with you is being replaced!" She said eagerly. Then she looked away. "I'm sorry I got you in trouble, though."

Harry took his girlfriend's face in his hands and forced her to look at him. "Hermione, I told you, we were done saying sorry to each other! Besides, from your gasp, I'm thinking it was accidental." Unable to look away, she nodded, and eyes filled with tears when she remembered how much pain he had been in.

Harry pulled Hermione to him in a fierce hug as she started to cry. "I could _feel_ how much you hurt, and I just wanted it to go away," she sniffed.

"It did, Hermione, it did," he whispered soothingly.

She shook her tears away, sniffed one final time, and pulled away to glare at him. "Don't think I've forgotten what I saw this morning, Mr. Potter!" Although she knew what he had been feeling and thinking, she had been in therapy before and knew that he needed to talk about it for the pain to truly start fading.

A guilty look flashed across his face, and she knew he had been hoping to not talk about it. She didn't say anything, just continued to look at him until he sighed in defeat. She then grabbed his hand, pulled him toward the bed, and hopped in his lap again, snuggling into him.

Harry smiled down at the pretty witch in his lap, and wrapped his arms around her. After getting comfortable, she looked up at him looking for all the world like a child waiting for an explanation on the facts of life. Harry chuckled to himself, thinking that Hermione had probably looked exactly like that as a child.

He lost his amusement as he remembered exactly which facts she wanted. He sighed, and decided he might as well start.

"I made a mistake," he said simply. He knew Hermione was not going to let it go at that, and continued, "It's obvious now that it wasn't my fault. But I still felt guilty; Sirius is dead, and everyone else at the Ministry ended up injured in some way, you and Ron most of all. I hated the thought that you had been in danger every year, and even knowing that it's not my fault doesn't help much; I'm still the focus. I know it doesn't seem to make sense, but physical pain seemed to help lessen the emotional pain."

Harry was looking away by this point as tears threatened. Hermione reached up, gently encouraging him to look at her again. "It's the reason you didn't cry out when Dudley was beating you, isn't it?" She asked softly. He nodded, closing his eyes. "Harry, you saw my memories. You know I felt the same way once. Afterwards, I felt ashamed, and promised I would never do it again. I just want you to promise me the same thing," she said, still whispering.

He opened his eyes to look at her again. He took a breath to calm himself a little, then raised his right hand to add a little humor, and said, "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby swear to one Hermione Jane Granger to cease inflicting pain upon myself." Because of the situation, it wasn't very funny, but Hermione appreciated his effort to try and make them both feel better.

Deciding that she wanted to do a better job than he did, she pulled him down to her. Harry smiled before he kissed her. He was glad Hermione had forced him to open up, and he wasn't going to complain about the treatment after, either!

After what could have been seconds or days, they pulled apart flushed and breathing heavily. The smiling teens went grabbed some lunch out of Hermione's bag and ate in a companionable silence.

After eating, they finally realized that they had barely seen the Dursleys for the last two days. Puzzled they went into the hall and down to Dudley's room. Looking in, they saw him sitting in the corner of his unlit room, holding his hand-which appeared to be in a cast-and looking at them in terror.

They left, closing the door in silence, and silently agreed that they did _not_ want to open the door to his elder relative's room and headed downstairs. They were surprised to see the adults downstairs at the table. Hermione, with her usual curiosity, asked when Dudley had gotten the cast.

They were not happy to be spoken to. They glared at her hatefully in silence for a little while, before Petunia responded venomously, "This morning."

The teens turned to the clock and realized with shock that it was after 6. Apparently, explorations in the mind took a while. They surmised that Petunia had confronted them after the hospital, and not after the drugs wore off, as they had thought.

If the Dursleys had expected the questions to end there, they didn't know Hermione. "What did you say?"

They glared at her again. It was a purple-faced Vernon who answered this time, "We said a cinderblock fell on his hand."

Harry decided that she had pushed her luck enough already, and ushered her out the door before she could ask anything else.

She grabbed his hand and leaned on him the moment they were the door. "Where are we going?" She asked curiously.

"Wait and see," he said. When he saw that she was going to press him, he added, "You'll recognize it from my memories."

Surprisingly, she didn't press him anymore. She just hugged his arm, content in his presence. It wasn't long before a playground came to view. Harry had been right; she did recognize it. This was the place he had come when he wanted to get out of his house. Every once in a while, Dudley's gang would get him here, but for the most part, he felt safe here.

She was pleased to see that it was different from the way it had been in his memories. Someone seemed to have decided to fix it up. There were now three swings that worked, and everything had been re-painted. Hermione smiled as they walked to the bench.

As Harry led Hermione to the bench, he noticed a group of younger kids coming towards the park. He didn't say anything to Hermione as they sat down; she would see soon enough.

It was a group of three boys, and after giving Harry and Hermione an odd look, the decided to simply ignore them and play.

Hermione felt Harry relax as they watched the kids play. She doubted he had even realized how tense he was. Every once in a while, she would look up at him, loving the peace in his eyes as he always looked back; she realized that she rarely saw him at peace. She realized that there was also something that had been in his eyes that wasn't there anymore. It didn't take her long to realize that it was guilt.

For now, she decided not to dwell on it, and watched the kids play carelessly. When the kids left, Harry pulled her up, gave her a gentle kiss, and they headed back to the Dursleys. They hadn't said a word. She was reminded of some lyrics by a band called Lacuna Coil:

_All I ever wanted_

_All I ever needed_

_Is here in my arms_

_Words are very unnecessary_

_They can only do harm_

Although she knew that words would not harm them, she couldn't help but think of how fitting the rest of the verse was. She couldn't even bring herself to care that they were staying at the Dursleys; she had Harry, and that was all she needed.


	9. The Wills

_Although she knew that words would not harm them, she couldn't help but think of how fitting the rest of the verse was. She couldn't even bring herself to care that they were staying at the Dursleys; she had Harry, and that was all she needed._

As the headed back to the Dursleys, Hermione made a decision she knew Harry was going to protest. That was too bad, because she wasn't giving in. But first, food. They had been watching the kids for a couple of hours, not to mention she was starting to feel the magical drain from the mind sharing and the healing she had done today.

Harry didn't say anything when Hermione grabbed five slices of pizza from the fridge, (leftovers from the five pies Dudley ate in one sitting) and neither did the Dursleys, though they did shoot her some heated glares. She didn't warm them up, she liked cold pizza.

They were both hungry, as Hermione suspected, but Harry could only eat one full slice and half of another; he still hadn't quite recovered from his starvation, and contrary to popular belief, that did not make more room.

Hermione, though, was eating like Ron; she managed to eat all three of her pieces and finish Harry's. After eating, they both decided they were tired and it was time for some sleep.

Hermione steeled her nerves, and climbed into Harry's bed. He had frozen and was gaping at her. She had known he wouldn't like it, but she was decided.

After a moment, however, Harry smiled. Hermione was surprised, as she had been expecting resistance to them sleeping in the same bed together. She didn't realize he was thinking he was sleeping on the floor, as she had previously suggested.

When he curled up on the floor, she mentally smacked herself for not expecting this reaction. "Harry," she called, "the bed is more comfortable." She laughed when his head shot up like a cartoon character's. His expression was mostly shock, and a little horror.

"H-Hermione," he stuttered, "your parents would kill me!"

"Not if we don't tell them," she answered, smiling at his gobsmacked expression.

"B-but it's not right!" He protested.

She sighed. "Harry," she said, "we're not going to do anything. We'll only be sleeping together in the literal sense," _for now_ she added silently to herself. "I wouldn't suggest it, but I'm afraid I'll have nightmares about how you were treated. With you here, I'll feel much better." She bit her lower lip, worried about playing on his concern for her. She noted how his eyes instantly focused on that and the way his eyes glazed slightly; she knew she had him. To make sure, she added in her best scared-little-girl voice, "Please?" She didn't forget the puppy eyes.

Harry reluctantly crawled up in the bed; he couldn't deny her. He tried to put as much space between them as possible as he lay on his side, looking at her. She promptly flipped so her back was to him and scooted back until she was snuggling into him. "Please, Harry," Hermione whispered in the dark, "hold me."

Harry sighed, and wrapped both arms around her waist-a difficult task, as one side was against the bed. Hermione smiled and snuggled into Harry some more, murmuring contentedly once she was as close as possible. "Goodnight, Harry," Hermione murmured to him.

Harry couldn't help but smile. He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek, whispering back, "Goodnight, love." He was amazed at how peaceful he felt. It wasn't long before the couple was asleep.

Harry woke up with a smile on his face. He looked down at the bushy-haired blur in his arms contentedly. He didn't care that his arm had fallen asleep, he was too happy that was around the witch he loved. Even if he couldn't bring himself to actually say 'I love you', his feelings were clear.

For a while, he watched Hermione sleep, even if he couldn't see her very well without his glasses. Eventually, though, she began to stir.

"Mmm," she groaned. "Harry?"

"Yes, love?"

She thrilled every time he called her that. "It feels wonderful to wake in your arms."

He chuckled. "I have to admit, even though I was against it at first, it felt wonderful waking to you in my arms."

She smiled again. She had a feeling she would be doing that a lot. "Good," she said decisively, "because I don't think I'll be able to sleep without you now."

Harry replied contentedly, "I think that makes two of us." Hermione giggled, pleased with herself. Then he asked tenderly, "Did you have any nightmares?"

Hermione giggled again, responding, "Nope, you scared them all away! What about you?"

Harry smiled at the realization, saying, "No, I didn't either. It's the first time since the end of the tournament."

Hermione stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and said, "Good," even if she was sad that he had had nightmares for over a year.

After a few moments of silently enjoying each other's company, Hermione declared it was time to get up. Harry grabbed his glasses off the bedside table as Hermione got off his arm. As it was only ten, none of the Dursleys were awake yet. (Vernon only woke up early to torment Harry.) They both showered and dressed within half an hour and left the house quietly to avoid waking the Dursleys; not because they cared about them getting sleep, they simply didn't want the confrontation.

Hermione had decided that they couldn't simply talk to each other all the time, despite the closeness, they needed things to do. So she decided a trip to Diagon Alley was in order. When Harry asked how they were getting there, Hermione simply raised her wand, and the Knight Bus appeared with a bang.

Harry grinned sheepishly, admitting he hadn't really thought of the Knight Bus since third year except in relation to Stan Shunpike. Hermione simply rolled her eyes, and dragged him onto the bus, requesting the Leaky Cauldron as the location.

Just like his last trip on the Knight Bus, Harry found himself sliding all over the place. He quickly found out that holding Hermione made it much more bearable, much to the witch's pleasure.

There were only two stops made on the trip, and Harry was pleased that he had been able to put himself between Hermione and the front of the bus both times; the Knight Bus was not known for stopping gently.

When they finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, they barely paused to say hello to Tom before going through the wall into Diagon Alley.

Although Hermione was anxious to go to Flourish and Blott's, she acknowledged that they had to get money from Gringotts first. It wasn't all that difficult to convince Harry, he was just glad he hadn't seen anyone from the Order yet. He hoped they were done watching him.

Unfortunately, Hermione had forgotten how famous Harry was. After what felt like the millionth stop in ten seconds, Hermione had had enough and began to push through everyone. Harry just followed, grinning.

Once they reached Gringotts and got scanned, they were greeted by a goblin that looked very familiar. He managed to remember his name just before the end of the welcome.

"Hello, Griphook. It's nice to see you again," Harry greeted him.

Griphook blinked in what seemed to be surprise. "Good day, Mr. Potter. I take it you would like to see your vault?"

Hermione knew this was going to be the hardest part for her, letting Harry pay for the things she wanted. But she had no money. She was only vaguely aware of Harry talking to the goblin and leading her to the cart. She came back to herself when she realized that this was going to be very much like a roller coaster ride.

Harry seemed to remember how much she hated roller coaster rides, and pulled her to him protectively. She hid her face in his shirt, and he continued his conversation with Griphook, asking about muggle money and getting money without coming to Gringotts. His answer was cut off as the cart started moving at an alarming pace. Hermione whimpered and clutched Harry tighter, grateful for his arms around her.

When they finally go to Harry's vault, Griphook was the only one who got out for a moment. "Are you okay, love?" Harry whispered, concerned. After a moment, Hermione nodded, and stood a little shakily. Harry saw that, frowning. Then he smirked, obviously planning something. Before Hermione could ask what he was planning, she found herself being scooped into his arms. For a moment, she wanted to protest. Then she decided she liked Harry's arms around her. So she just snuggled in happily.

As they stepped out of the cart, Harry thanked Griphook for his patience. Hermione heard Griphook reply that it wasn't a problem, and continue their earlier conversation.

"As I was saying, Mr. Potter, turning wizarding money into muggle money is not a problem, and neither is withdrawing money from outside this bank. The easiest solution to both is what we call a bottomless bag. Although not truly bottomless, you can reach into it and withdraw anything as small as a knut, or as large as a 1,000 galleons. You can also withdraw muggle money. You must merely think the amount, and reach into the bag. There are also ones you could give to people you trust with access to your account."

"How do I go about getting these bottomless bags and getting others access to my account?" Harry asked. They had stopped walking a while ago, and Hermione was fairly sure they were standing outside Harry's vault.

"The bottomless bags require a small fee," Griphook replied with a smile, "but to give other people access to the vault, you just have to give me their full name."

"Hermione Jane Granger," Harry said instantly, "and I would like two bottomless bags, please, Griphook." Hermione gasped at his show of trust, and hugged him tighter. Had she looked, she would have seen Griphook smiling, though it wasn't the prettiest sight.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. And now, perhaps we should enter your vault," Griphook suggested.

"I like the way think," Harry replied, and Hermione knew without looking that he had a smile on his face. She heard the key slide in, and the clicking of what sounded like thousands of locks. For the first time since getting off the cart, Hermione turned to see what was going on.

The sight before her had Hermione gasping in surprise. She had never seen so much gold in one place! There were mounds of galleons, sickles, and knuts! But where were the family heirlooms?

Hermione turned to Griphook, "Griphook, where are Harry's family heirlooms?"

"They are in the Potter vault," Griphook replied as though it was obvious.

Now Harry joined in the conversation. "What do you mean? I thought this was the Potter vault!"

Griphook appeared to be frowning. "Mr. Potter, this is simply a trust fund. The majority of what your parents left you is in their main vault."

Harry was stunned. So was Hermione, for that matter. _How could there be more?_

"Could you take us to that vault please, Griphook?" Harry asked.

He was definitely frowning. "Mr. Potter, I'm sorry no one explained this to you. You can't access the family vault until you are a legal adult, or the will of the parents says otherwise."

Harry was having difficulty processing all of this. "What did the will of my parents say?" He asked.

Griphook was clearly surprised at this. "You don't know?" Harry shook his head. "You should have seen it by now," Griphook said.

"I should have?"

"Yes. Once you reach the age where you can legally be tried as an adult for severe cases such as murder, you have the right to view your parents' wills."

Hermione gasped again. "Harry, that means you should have seen it when you were twelve!"

Harry sighed. "Griphook, would a notification have been sent to me by mail?" Harry asked. Griphook nodded and Harry sighed again. "Dobby."

Hermione's eyes widened in understanding, but Griphook just looked confused. Hermione turned to him and explained. "When Harry turned twelve, there was a house-elf named Dobby who thought he could convince Harry not to go back to Hogwarts by keeping mail from him."

Griphook shook his head before turning back to Harry. "Perhaps, Mr. Potter, we should view the will of your parents before continuing." Harry nodded. Griphook cleared his throat and said, "Griphook requires the wills of Mr. James Potter and Mrs. Lily Potter for review by their son, Harry Potter." There was no flash, or puff of smoke, just a glow around Griphook's hand where two pieces of parchment appeared.

Harry set Hermione down before he dropped her. He reached out to Griphook with shaky hands for the wills. Then he turned to Hermione, and asked, "Hermione, love, would you please review my mother's will?" Not trusting her voice, Hermione simply nodded.

Harry, if you're reading this right now, I'm sorry we're not there for you. It also probably means our location was betrayed by our Secret Keeper. Everyone believes it was Sirius, but we changed it to Pettigrew. Please make sure people know it was him.

Now for the actual will.

I would like 1 million galleons split evenly between Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Everything else is to go to my son, Harry.

I would like Harry emancipated as soon as possible.

Signed,

James Potter

Harry couldn't believe it. He sat there, stunned. Meanwhile, Hermione was reading Lily's will for the third time.

Harry, I'm so sorry if you're reading this. I wish we could be there for you. If we're not, please make sure Pettigrew pays for his betrayal.

I, Lily Potter, will:

1 million galleons to split evenly between Amy Longbottom and Molly Weasley

Everything else goes to my son, who is to be emancipated as soon as possible.

Signed,

Lily Potter

Hermione looked up to see that Harry was watching her. They swapped. Apparently, Harry should have been an adult able to practice magic with access to the family vault since he was twelve.

After reading the letters and hugging Hermione for a small amount of comfort, Harry took a deep breath and turned to Griphook. "How would I become emancipated?"

Griphook pondered for a moment. "I assume it is in the will of your parents?" Harry nodded confirmation. "Then you need to simply bring the wills to the ministry and fill out the paperwork. Since they specified that you be emancipated, but not that you gain immediate access to the family vault, I'm afraid you will have to wait until you are a legal adult."

Harry took another breath, and said, "Thank you Griphook. Don't be surprised if you see me within a few days." Griphook smiled, and gestured towards the vault. "No, I don't need it," Harry said. "I can just use the bottomless bag."

In all the excitement, Hermione had forgotten about the bags. Before she could say anything, Griphook said, "I'll see to it as soon as we return to the surface, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you," Harry said, and began to head back towards the cart. He paused for a moment, and turned back to Griphook. "Do goblins use wizarding money, or do they have their own currency?" Hermione was surprised; it was a question worthy of her. She turned to Griphook as well, who laughed.

"No, Mr. Potter, we do not use wizarding currency. Wizards use Goblin currency!" Harry and Hermione laughed as well, and continued to the cart. Just before reaching it, Harry turned and picked up Hermione again.

"I have a new plan to distract you," he whispered to her as he sat down, sitting her on his lap. "The entire way up, all you're going to be thinking about is my lips on yours." Hermione was about to say she didn't have a problem with that, but his lips were suddenly on hers. She didn't even notice that they had started moving. Then Harry broke away, smiling at the pout on her face.

Once more, he picked her up, and they went over to Griphook before putting her down. They followed him to the counter, where he reached over and grabbed two seemingly ordinary drawstring pouches. He handed one to Harry, and the other to Hermione. He took the hands holding the bags, muttered something indecipherable, and told them he was finished.

"Those bags will respond to no one else, and will automatically return to you if stolen," he told them.

Harry reached into his bag, and Hermione watched in bemusement as he pulled out two galleons, and attempted to give them to Griphook.

Griphook just stared at the galleons, clearly not understanding. "Mr. Potter?" He asked.

"Is it not customary to tip someone who has helped you?" Harry asked.

"Between wizards, perhaps," Griphook asked, "but wizards tend to see us more as dumb animals."

Harry snorted. "I don't share that view. I've met too many wizards who are lot dumber than the average goblin."

Griphook smiled, and accepted the galleons. "I look forward to seeing you again, Mr. Potter." Harry laughed, and shook his hand, a gesture Hermione was sure few, if any, other wizards had made.

Next stop, the Ministry of Magic.


	10. Gringotts Again

_Next stop, the Ministry of Magic._

When the teens got to the Ministry, they were not in good shape; the Knight Bus was not a pleasant ride, and after all the shocks at Gringotts, they were not in a position to cope with it. They took a moment to steady themselves, then turned to their companion and dusted each other off. Then, after a quick kiss, they headed to the phone booth.

Harry followed the procedure he had seen Mr. Weasley use, and the one he had used less than a month ago. This time, the badge just said 'visitor'.

Although he and Hermione were both nervous about going to the site of their last battle, they were the only ones who knew that. On the outside, they were rock solid.

Although neither of them expected the amount of traffic they saw in the Ministry, they both acted unfazed by unspoken agreement. They headed towards the visitor's desk, thankful that no one decided to pay enough attention to them to realize who they were.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the receptionist, "Who do I see about emancipation?"

Without looking up, the receptionist said, "Go home, kid. You can't get emancipation without your parents."

"That might be difficult, since they're dead," Harry said angrily.

Startled, she looked up. Upon realizing who she said that to, she paled visibly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, right this way."

Hermione was at least as angry as Harry, and said, "Maybe you wouldn't be sorry if you looked at the person you were being rude to!"

The woman paled a bit more, and nodded, still leading them. After a few moments of pushing through the crowded Ministry, they arrived at a door that said 'Department of Legal Studies', and below that, 'Michael Greer'.

The receptionist knocked on the door, and poked her head, saying, "Excuse me, Mr. Greer; Mr. Potter has requested seeing you." They heard a male voice respond, and the receptionist said, "Go on in." She was still a little pale.

In the room, they saw a rather large man, but there all similarities to the male Dursleys ended; he had a face that instantly made you think he was smiling, and had a twinkling in his eyes that reminded Harry of Dumbledore and put him at ease.

Mr. Greer stuck out his hand, and said with a smile, "Good morning, Mr. Potter. I understand you require my services?"

Harry smiled back, replying, "Indeed I do, Mr. Greer. I'm trying to execute my parents' wills."

Mr. Greer's smile faded a little bit. "Ah. May I see them, please?"

Harry handed them to him. Mr. Greer reviewed them, sighed, and asked, "I assume you know what it means to be emancipated Mr. Potter?" Harry nodded. "Well, I'm afraid that's going to be the most time-consuming part. The rest of the will is relatively simple, and not even handled by us."

Harry just waved it away, "What do I have to do?"

Mr. Greer pulled out what seemed to be only about three pages. "If you could sign here, and here, Mr. Potter." Harry signed where he pointed. Mr. Greer signed on the lines underneath. "Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you are now legally an adult," Mr. Greer said, smiling.

"That's it?" Harry asked. "I thought you said it would be the most time-consuming part," he accused.

"It was," he said. "What other part of the will did you spend time on?" He asked, laughing. Harry figured it out, and laughed with him. Harry thanked him, and headed out with Hermione, who had been unusually silent.

"Oh, Mr. Potter," Mr. Greer called. "Make sure the goblins disperse the money."

"They wouldn't have done that already?" Harry asked, startled.

Mr. Greer shook his head. "Probably not. Like us, someone needs to go to them about the will before they will do anything about."

Harry nodded, thanking him again, before turning and bringing the still silent Hermione with him.

Once they were out of the Ministry, Harry turned to her and asked her what was wrong. "When Dumbledore told you about the blood wards," she began, "didn't he say they would dissipate when you were an adult?" She asked.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "what does that have to do with-ooohhh…." He considered that for a moment. "Will that count?"

Hermione nodded. "I think so," she said unhappily.

She jumped when Harry whooped like a little kid. At her questioning look, he explained that it meant he didn't have to live with the Dursleys. Although she was surprised she hadn't thought of it herself, it immediately brightened her outlook.

Hermione hugged him. "Let me call my parents," she said eagerly.

To her surprise, Harry shook his head. "We can't," he said simply. Seeing that she was about to argue, he explained his reasoning. "First off, we don't know if the wards _are_ down. We need to contact Dumbledore to find out if he meant adult by the legal definition, or simply never thought of me getting emancipated and meant when I turned 17.

"Second, we both agreed that we didn't think we would be able to sleep alone anymore. I really don't want to try and explain that one to your parents." Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the obvious dread he felt about facing her parents; Voldemort, sure, no problem! But his girlfriend's parents, and he was terrified.

"Third," he said, ignoring her laughter, "All of my stuff is still at the Dursleys, so we would have to head back anyway."

Hermione nodded, disappointed in herself for not thinking of all of these things already. Harry sensed her discomfort, and, guessing the source, kissed her on the forehead, saying, "Relax, love. I've had weeks to adjust to thinking about the wards. You've had three days. Plus, I know you really want to see your parents."

Hermione hugged him, grateful that he knew what was wrong and knew just what to say. _Thank you, Harry_, she thought to him gratefully.

She was about to say it aloud, as well, when she felt him stiffen, and looked up at him. Before she could say anything, he held up his hand for a moment. He appeared to be concentrating on something. Suddenly, she heard, _Hermione?_ In her head-in a voice that sounded very like Harry Potter.

Harry grinned as she looked up at him, shocked. "How'd you do that?" She asked aloud.

Harry shrugged. "Dunno," he said. "I heard a voice in my head that sounded like you say 'Thank you, Harry'. I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy, since a certain witch I know told me hearing voices was a bad thing." He paused, looking thoughtful again. "Seems useful, though."

Hermione nodded. "We'll have to practice, see how far apart we can talk to each other, get used to it so we don't give it away-" she was interrupted when Harry laughed and kissed her.

"You can make a list later, love," Harry told her, smiling. "We still have tons to do today. We have to go back to Gringotts, explore the family vault, buy anything we need or want that's not in there, go back to the Dursleys, send a letter to Dumbledore, find some place we can practice magic unnoticed by muggles, and between all that, we still have to eat."

"But Harry, how long can that really take?" Hermione argued. "We've been to Gringotts and the Ministry already, and it's barely been an hour."

"And how many books are you going to want to make _sure_ we don't need?" Harry asked with a teasing smile, causing Hermione to blush.

Rather than argue with what she knew was the truth, she just shrugged, raised her wand to call the Knight Bus. Just before she got on, she turned back to Harry, saying, "Just so you know, you're distracting me the whole way to and from your vault!" Harry, of course, had no problem with this, and made sure to practice while on the Knight Bus, first.

When they got off the Knight Bus for the third time that day, they were again disheveled, though for a different reason than last time. This time they had the Knight Bus drop them off right at Gringotts. After going through the same ritual they had at the front of the Ministry, Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bank; for some reason, she was eager for the ride down to Harry's vault.

After being scanned as usual, they were greeted by Griphook again. "Mr. Potter, I'm pleased to see everything went well at the Ministry. I assume you'll want the rest of your parents' wills executed, and then head down to your family vault."

"Yes, please," barely comprehensible after his enjoyable ride on the Knight Bus.

Griphook, guessing the reason, decided it would be better to not comment. Instead, he snapped his fingers and muttered to the goblin that appeared in Gobbledegook.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, if you would follow me please," he said, walking towards the cart. "Mr. Potter, would it be convenient for you if I moved the money from your trust into the family account and changed the bags to access that one instead?"

Harry thought about looking for a downside to it. Unable to find one, he looked to Hermione to see if she concurred, and, receiving a slight nod, turned to Griphook. "Yes, it would be convenient. Thank you."

Griphook waved it away as they got into the cart. He then snapped his fingers, waited amount, then said, "It is done." As soon as he finished speaking-and before Harry could thank him-the cart pulled away, and Harry was busy distracting Hermione.

This trip was much longer than the trips to Harry's old vault, as the teens were coming to think of it. (Neither of them was complaining about it!) It turned out that the older the vault, the lower it was. The Potter vault was apparently #5, making it one of the oldest vaults.

After the cart stopped, Griphook stood there awkwardly for a moment, (wondering how the teens were able to breathe), before he decided to politely interrupt them by tapping Harry's shoulder. Harry jumped, looking around as he broke apart from Hermione, and his face turned a deep red that Hermione's matched.

They stood up and got out of the cart holding hands, but seemingly finding the floor to be very interesting as they both muttered apologies to the goblin. Had they bothered to ask or even look up, they would have found out that Griphook had seen behavior like that before and was struggling not to laugh as he led the embarrassed teens to the family vault. After controlling himself, he said, "Mr. Potter, I believe you will find that your trust key will fit this. Also, if you would hand me your bottomless bags I can alter the vault it pulls the money from your old trust vault to this one." They unhesitatingly handed them over, and after a moment, he handed them back. "Please note that these bags can only pull out money, no other items."

"Thank you, Griphook," Harry said, reattaching the bag to his belt. He then took his key out of his pocket, and headed towards the vault, both eager and sad to see what his parents had left him. Just as he was about to put his key in the hole, though, the three beings jumped at a loud _crack!_ behind them. They whirled around to find a very familiar house-elf with several hats on.

"_Dobby?_" Harry and Hermione chorused. Griphook just decided to sit back and watch.

"Mr. Harry Potter, sir," the cheerful house-elf squeaked, "Dobby's is just hearings that Mr. Harry Potter, sir, is become Lord of House Potter! Dobby's would be grateful to serve such a noble House!"

Harry couldn't help a smile at the little elf. He may be frustrating at times, but he always meant well. He glanced at Hermione to see her reaction to this, only to find that she was waiting to see what he would do. He mentally shrugged and hoped this didn't backfire. "Okay, Dobby, you can work for me. You said your fee was a galleon a week, right?"

Dobby nodded happily, and then, for some inexplicable reason, suddenly looked sad. "Mr. Harry Potter, sir, would you hires Winky, too? She still sads about…before."

Harry looked startled for a moment. He glanced at Hermione, and was encouraged to see her smiling. "May I talk to Winky first, Dobby?" Harry asked.

Dobby seemed to become his usual self, nodding happily before disappearing with a _crack!_ Before anyone could do or say anything, he reappeared with Winky, who looked slightly less sad than the last time they saw her, and more sober, as well. She stared at the ground, and Hermione thought she looked nervous.

Harry picked up on this, and knelt on the ground to be more her height. Hermione and Griphook decided to leave him to it. "Winky," Harry said softly, "would you like to work for me?" Winky looked up at last, looking hopeful, and nodded eagerly. "Will you accept the same fee as Dobby?"

Winky rocked back on her heels, looking hurt, and said. "No! Winky is proper house-elf! No fee," she said, making the word sound dirty. Her eyes filled with tears, and she was slouched. "No ones wants Winky," she muttered sadly to herself, "Winky is bads elf."

Both Harry and Hermione were feeling teary about this; it reminded them both about how Harry had felt for so long. "That's not true, Winky," Harry said, his voice breaking slightly. He glanced at Hermione, and she-knowing he was seeking affirmation-nodded. He turned back to Winky, who was looking hopeful again, and said, "I'll be glad to accept your services, to House Potter, Winky." He then stood and said to both of them, "But you'll both have one day off a month! No house-elf of mine will tire themselves," he said mock sternly.

Dobby looked thrilled, but Winky was instantly protesting. Before she could get far, Harry said gently, "Winky, I order you to take a break at least one day a month."

Winky instantly ceased her objections; accepting orders was an ingrained habit, much like it had been for Harry. Hermione found herself tearing at the thought, and shook her head angrily to rid herself of the tears. Winky bowed, saying, "Yes, Master." Harry and Hermione both winced at the Master part.

"Winky," Harry said, "please don't call me Master. It makes me uncomfortable." Winky's eyes widened, and Harry recognized that she was going to punish herself, and quickly grabbed her. "It isn't your fault," Harry told her sternly. "You didn't know. Just call me Harry." He turned to Dobby. "You, too, Dobby."

They both nodded, though Winky's was a little reluctant. Satisfied, Harry turned back to the vault. "Shall we?" He said, putting the key to the door. There was the familiar sound of millions of tiny locks clicking, and the doors slowly opened.

The teens gasped as the vault door opened, and even Griphook seemed surprised. The house-elves didn't seem to have an opinion, as they had both vanished; apparently, they didn't need to make a bang when they apparated.

Just the size of the vault was impressive; Harry was sure that the entire Great Hall could fit in it with room to spare for the Dursley house. He didn't think about that for long, though, there was too much else to focus on. The back three quarters of the vault was money, and half of that area was galleons. _What the hell am I going to do with that much money?_ Harry managed to think before turning to everything else.

On the left side, there was a collection of medieval melee weapons, including swords, axes, knives, and something that looked like a giant hammer. This collection wouldn't be complete without two sets of armor that appeared to be made of dragon-hide. Next to the medieval collection was a ridiculously large amount of gems that would have made the royal treasury look like children's baubles.

Harry was sure Hermione would like the right side of the room, as it was entirely books. Not a few dozen, but a few thousand. But for some reason, Harry found his eyes drawn to the middle, where there was just a chest and a table. Something about them made him think that those items were the most valuable, and he went towards them.

Hermione made a move to follow, but then looked at the books, clearly torn. Harry turned back, sensing something. Seeing her dilemma, Harry smiled and nodded to the books. Hermione gave him a grateful look, and was halfway there before Harry turned around. Of course, that was probably because he loved watching her, but still.

After tearing his eyes from Hermione, he continued to the items that had grabbed his attention. He knelt by the chest first, examining the engraving on it. _Light Resides in Even the Darkest Place._ Harry traced these words almost reverently before opening the trunk.

He was almost disappointed to find that it only had five books and two rings in one box. That is, until he read the titles: _Defensive Spells, Offensive Spells, Ritual Spells, How to Fight a Wizard, The Complete Guide for an Animagus, _and _Wandless Magic._ The rest of the trunk seemed to be empty.

"Hermione," Harry called, "you might be interested in this!"


	11. A New Low

"_Hermione," Harry called, "you might be interested in this!"_

Surprisingly, Hermione didn't even hesitate, she immediately put away the book she had been reading and headed over to Harry. "What is it, Harry?" She asked her boyfriend.

He wordlessly handed the books to her. Her eyes widened as she read the titles of the books. She didn't even notice Harry put the rings in his pocket. Despite the simple titles, these were books were exceedingly rare. She was especially surprised with the last one. She hadn't even known there was a book on wandless magic!

"Harry, this is great!" She said excitedly. "This is everything we need!"

"I know," he said. He sounded a lot less excited than Hermione was; in fact, he sounded sad. Hermione set her curiosity aside, concerned, about Harry.

"What's wrong, Harry?" She asked, and was slightly disappointed when she realized she didn't have a nickname for Harry like he did for her. She would have to think of one.

"This is everything we need," he said. "That means we don't have to go shopping. I know it sounds stupid, but I was really hoping to go shopping with you. Not because I like shopping, but simply to do something an ordinary boy would do with his girlfriend."

She silently cursed Fate-and the Dursleys-that he wasn't an ordinary boy to do ordinary things. Kneeling beside him, she said, "Harry, it doesn't sound stupid. And we can still go shopping. We can even visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and see how the twins are doing. Plus," she added with a smile, "You know I still want to make sure we don't need other books." Harry smiled at that, knowing it was true. She hugged him, whispering, "I'm sorry you don't get the chance to be normal."

Harry nodded, grateful for the comfort. He still felt compelled to say, "You know it's not your fault, love."

Hermione smiled sadly and nodded. "It doesn't stop me from being sad for you, though."

_How did I get so lucky?_ Harry thought to himself.

_I'm the lucky one, Harry,_ Hermione responded in his head; apparently she heard him. Harry just chuckled and shook his head, knowing she was wrong, and knowing better than to argue. Hermione just hugged him tighter, glad she had gotten a laugh out of him.

Abruptly, he swung her around into his arms, and said, "Let's see if there are any other books that could be useful to us. We should also take a look at the muggle weapons, just to have another surprise against the Dark Bastard." Normally, Hermione would have scolded him for swearing, but considering that Voldemort had gone after her boyfriend personally five times already, she agreed with his assessment. So she just nodded, thinking she could get used to Harry carrying her around; as long as his arms were around her, she didn't care!

After about six hours, they had gone through the rest of the books-Harry looked for promising titles, and Hermione made sure it was what they were looking for. In the end, they only found three more books to add to the pile-_The Complete Book of Wards and Protective Charms_, _Mind Magic_, and _Magical Bonds_. They young couple didn't know why, but this last one seemed to draw them in. They decided that they would have to explore this mystery later, as they hadn't yet eaten, and it was approaching six.

After the return trip that left Hermione and Harry both flushed, Harry thanked Griphook again with a tip, they headed to the Leaky Cauldron for some food, and Fortescue's for dessert. They stopped by Weasley's Wizard's Wheezes, but it was already closed for the day. They then went to Madame Malkin's to get new clothes for Harry; apparently, she supplied muggle clothes as well.

After that-despite Hermione's previous assertion of wanting to go to the bookstore-they simply walked around Diagon Alley hand-in-hand. The books were in a small bag that was magically enlarged on the inside and had a featherweight charm on it. Although they knew it had to end some time, they were both grateful that they could act like a normal couple for a little while.

Unfortunately, it all came crashing down when they stepped off the Knight Bus at number 4 Privet Drive. Hermione gasped in horror, and clutched at Harry, hiding her face in his shirt. Harry could just stare in shock. Apparently, though, no one on the Knight Bus saw anything, because it simply disappeared with its usual _bang!_

In front of Harry and Hermione was a pile of rubble where 4 Privet Drive. Overhead-the Dark Mark floated.

"No," Harry whispered. He took a step towards what had been his house. Hermione was too shocked to follow him. It didn't matter that the people he shared it with had hated him-it had been his house. By this time, the magic was roiling off of him; Hermione was sure even a muggle would have been able to feel it.

"NO!" Harry screamed. Every window shattered as the street shook. Somehow, the muggles in their homes seemed to notice nothing.

Harry sank to his knees, sobbing his loss; in spite of all they had done to him, the Dursleys were family. Hedwig had been in there, as well.

Hermione slowly approached him. She kneeled next to him, putting his arms around him. He turned into her arms, sobbing, as she comforted him with tears running down her face. "I'm still here, Harry. I won't leave you. We can get through this." She kept murmuring reassurances to him, until, finally, his tears and magic had spent themselves, leaving the young man exhausted.

Hermione's heart broke for her boyfriend in her arms. He had lost his parents, been sent to live with relatives that abused him but he somehow managed to love anyway, found out he could escape with his godfather, almost lost said godfather to dementors, lost his friend Cedric at the end of the fourth year, and lost Sirius less than a month ago. Now this? How much more could he lose before it was too much?

She suddenly started as she realized it had _already_ been too much. He had been torturing himself-literally-because he felt guilty about Sirius. She could lose him over this if she wasn't paying attention for an instant. "I will _not_ lose you, Harry," she whispered fiercely. She had found her Gryffindor courage and finally kissed him after two years of crushing on him. There was no way in _hell_ she was giving him up without a fight.

She stayed awake holding her crushed boyfriend all night. As the sun began to rise, Hermione noticed something in the sky coming towards them.


	12. Home

_She stayed awake holding her crushed boyfriend all night. As the sun began to rise, Hermione noticed something in the sky coming towards them._

"Hedwig!" Hermione shouted. Harry started in her arms. She looked down at him, "Look, Harry, Hedwig's okay!" For a moment, he looked as though he thought she was playing a cruel joke on him. Then Hedwig landed on his shoulder.

Hermione couldn't help but notice the difference it made to him; a look of absolute wonder crossed his face. Unfortunately, it didn't last long; he still blamed himself for the Dursleys deaths. He did, however, seem much happier than before.

After a few minutes of Harry petting Hedwig, he stood up, grabbed Hermione, and pulled her into a kiss, putting everything he had into it to express how grateful he was. "Thank you, Hermione," Harry whispered after they broke apart. Hermione just hugged him in response.

"Harry, we have to fix this before any muggles start the day and see it," Hermione said. Harry nodded, and took out his wand, looking hesitant. Hermione whispered to him, "You can do it."

Harry nodded, taking a deep breath. "Reparo," he said. The rubble shifted a little, but nothing else. Harry frowned. "Reparo!" He said much more forcefully. The rubble shook, looking like it was trying to resist, and eventually turned back into the house. Harry returned his wand to his pocket, looking pale; it took a lot of magic to repair an entire house.

Hermione gently took his arm and led him into the house, thanking every god she could think of (which was a lot), that the muggles had not noticed the wreckage and couldn't see the Mark. She led him to the living room, and went to make them breakfast. Harry grabbed her arm and shook his head. "I'll do it. I need something to keep myself busy, and you need to rest." Seeing the logic in that, she acquiesced.

A short while later, Harry was in the living room with her as they ate eggs and bacon in a gloomy silence. Afterwards, Harry held Hermione as she slept, cursing his ability to get people hurt. He knew Hermione didn't blame him, but he realized that she wasn't always right. And people _were_ constantly getting hurt around him.

He looked down at the sleeping beauty, wishing that they had had more time to date. He was very tempted to simply give in and remain her boyfriend, as he knew she would insist. _No_, Harry thought angrily to himself, _I will not put her in danger!_ He was soon in a restless sleep.

A few hours later, Harry was instantly woken when Hermione began to stir. He gently placed her on the couch beside him as she woke up. He sighed, trying to think of how he was going to say this, and ran his fingers through his-as usual-unruly hair.

Hermione, however, knew exactly what he was going to do, and was having none of it. "Harry James Potter, this is _not _your fault, and don't even _think_ of trying to break up with me!" Less than a week ago, Harry trying to break up with her would have confirmed all her insecurities, but now she knew how he really felt.

Harry closed his eyes. "Hermione, you know how I feel," Harry began, unconsciously echoing her previous thoughts, "and-"

"Yes, Harry, I know exactly how you feel," she interrupted. "You feel like people are getting hurt and dying because you're near them. And you feel like breaking up with me will protect me. It won't!" She said vehemently. Hedwig, who was still on Harry's shoulder, hooted in what sounded like agreement, causing Hermione to smirk, and Harry to look a bit hurt. "People already know I'm important to you-since we've been friends for five years-and I'm a Mudblood." She raised a hand to stop his protests. "Harry, I don't care about the word, it's simple ignorance on the part of stupid gits like Malfoy. The point I'm trying to make is that I'm already a target; us dating won't make me any safer. Just think about it," she pleaded.

Harry sighed and did as requested. He knew that everything she said was true, and was simply trying to find a way around it. After a few minutes that felt like eternity to the two of them, Harry admitted defeat. "I'm sorry I place you in danger," Harry said.

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. She had known his insecurities would come back, one moment in her mind was not going to override a lifetime of abuse, after all. But this was ridiculous! "Harry, this isn't your fault!" She snapped, a bit more harshly than she had intended.

Harry didn't seem upset about it. He just whispered, "Yes, it is. I may not be the one casting the curse, but Voldemort is going after you because of me."

"Harry, you're not _making_ him come after you! He's just an evil bloody bastard who fucks with you!" Harry looked extremely shocked at Hermione swearing; indeed, Hermione was shocked as well. He did, however, seem a bit less depressed. Seeing that, Hermione decided to change the subject. "Dobby?"

The little house-elf appeared, and Harry looked shocked; with the shock of everything, he had completely forgotten about the house-elves he had hired. "Mr. Harry Potter's Miss Grangy is callings Dobby?"

Hermione smiled a bit, not minding in the slightest that she belonged to Harry; after all, he belonged to her, too! "Yes, Dobby. Would you please contact Professor Dumbledore to see if he can meet with us as soon as possible?"

Dobby nodded vigorously and disappeared. Mere moments later, he was back with Dumbledore. If either of the teens were surprised at how quickly he appeared, they hid it well. As usual, Dumbledore asked if they would like a lemon drop, as he ate one himself.

"I understand that the two of you wished to speak to me," Dumbledore said as they got done to business. The two teens nodded. "What is it you would like to see me about?" He asked, though the teens suspected he already knew.

They glanced at each other, and Harry gave a slight nod for Hermione to speak. "You see, sir, Harry looked over the wills of Sirius and his parents, and they both wanted him to become an adult. It wasn't until after he was emancipated-"

"Until _what_?" Dumbledore asked, appearing a bit angry, and no longer like the grandfatherly man they had known. "Didn't you know that that would bring the wards down?"

Hermione, now equally angry, stood up to face Dumbledore. Harry found himself wondering what happened to the girl who obeyed authority without question, until he realized it could be an effect of seeing the "authority" Harry lived with. "No, we didn't!" Hermione angrily responded to him. "Because you decided to hide the contents of the wills without explaining anything!"

Dumbledore looked shocked for a moment, before his expression turned pensive. He nodded slowly, and sighed. "Perhaps you are right, Ms. Granger." He turned to Harry. "I apologize for not explaining why I did not have you emancipated as soon as possible." Hermione looked a little less angry as she sat back down and hugged Harry. The gesture was not missed by Dumbledore, whose lips twitched a little as he hid a small smile before he went and sat in Vernon Dursley's chair. After shifting comfortably, he motioned Hermione to continue.

"As I was saying," Hermione continued, much less angry now that she was hugging Harry, "it wasn't until after he was emancipated that we considered the possible ramifications." Harry smiled a little at the _we_, knowing it was Hermione who considered it. "Many hours later, we came back to the house to find it destroyed and with the Dark Mark over it. Thankfully, it either happened at night and no muggles heard it, or the Obliviators already got to them. I doubt it was the Obliviators, though, since the Dark Mark is still over the house, and Harry was the one who had to repair it"

Dumbledore had a thoughtful frown on his face the entire time Hermione had been speaking again. His expression only changed twice; when he heard that Harry had repaired the house, and at the end, when Dumbledore appeared startled for a moment, and looked up, as though he could see the Dark Mark. _Perhaps he can,_ Harry thought. Dumbledore raised is wand to the ceiling, and a barely noticeable beam of light flew up and through the ceiling. Dumbledore nodded, satisfied. "The Dark Mark is now gone, Ms. Granger." Hermione simply nodded. "Now, I believe it is time to discuss living arrangements. I feel you should live at Grimmauld Place, Harry."

Hermione was instantly on her feet, shouting, "Are you crazy? After what happened, you want him to go _there_?"

Dumbledore was very surprised that Hermione would stand up to him; very few would, and all of them were either adults or Harry. Hermione, however, had always been one to go along with authority. "What would you propose, Ms. Granger?" He asked, hiding his impatience with politeness.

"My parents' house," she replied instantly-though still with anger. "They already offered, and I'm sure you can set up the wards you put around Grimmauld Place."

Dumbledore considered for a moment, barely noticing when Harry gently pulled Hermione onto his lap. It really wasn't a bad idea. Harry would get to spend the summer with good people and still be safe. Admittedly, he wouldn't be as safe, but as safe as he could be with his relatives dead and the blood wards gone.

Hermione was slightly surprised when Dumbledore nodded his head. "I can see your point, Ms. Granger," he considered slowly. "Who would you suggest to be Secret Keeper?"

"Myself," she replied without hesitation. "I already planned on learning Occlumency, and I'll be safe there and at Hogwarts for the most part until I learn it."

"Excellent suggestion," Dumbledore agreed. "Knowing you, Ms. Granger, you'll have it in no time." He stood. "Now, shall I gather your stuff so we can head to your house and explain?" Hermione nodded, biting her lip nervously, and Harry nodded as well, also looking nervous. Dumbledore raised his wand, and everything the two of them owned was neatly packed away in their trunks, which were waiting by the door. The three of them went to them, and Harry shrunk them, much to the surprise of Dumbledore. Without saying a word, he gently took their arms, and apparated into the living room of the Grangers.

Unsurprisingly, the Grangers weren't home, as they had work. Hermione walked over to the phone as soon as she stopped feeling ready to throw up and dialed her parents' work phone number. Harry sat on the couch and Hermione joined him as she waited for her parents to pick up the phone. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her into his lap, and laid his shin on the shoulder opposite the one the phone was.

A few moments later, they heard a startled Emma Granger pick up the phone, wondering who was calling from her house. Hermione explained the situation as best she could, about his dead relatives, the wards, and the Fidelius charm, explaining that she would have to call them back to tell them where they lived. It only took a few more minutes-and the promise of more detail later-before they agreed.

As soon as Hermione was done, Dumbledore got to work on the wards. In truth, it was basically a complex Fidelius charm that allowed people to know the address only if they had given the information of the Secret Keeper's free will. Hermione was very curious about this, but held it at bay, sure they could find something in the ward book they had.

After he finished setting the wards, an exhausted Dumbledore hooked them to Hermione, making her the Secret Keeper. He immediately forgot where they were, but knew it was because he had cast a Fidelius charm, and remained calm. Until Harry asked why he still knew where they were. _How can he know where we are?_ Dumbledore thought. _Hermione hasn't said anything yet, so it shouldn't be possible!_ He considered any instances in which someone who wasn't the Secret Keeper already knew the secret, and his eyes widened in shock. _I'll have to check this,_ he thought to himself.

Hermione didn't respond, she just went to the phone and dialed her parents again. "Hi Mum, can you get Dad please?" A moments pause. "Hi Daddy, I just want to tell you our address. It's 14 Pine Rd." Another pause, a little longer this time. "You're welcome, goodbye, and I love you guys, too." She hung up the phone. Turning back to Dumbledore, she said, "Could you please set up a ward so that the Ministry can't detect magic? I know that Harry can do it legally, but I _am_ going to help him practice," she said fiercely.

Dumbledore chuckled, and raised his hands in a conciliatory way. "Peace, Ms. Granger, I believe you! And yes, I can, though it is restricted. However, as Head of the Wizengamot, I can allow one."

"Good," Hermione responded simply. Dumbledore was a bit puzzled; Hermione had always been one of the politest students he had met, but there was no hint of her possibly saying thanks. He couldn't help but wonder why as he cast the-thankfully simple-ward. He was too drained to do anything more than that. Although the normal Fidelius was a simple spell, the complex required an extreme amount of power, and even Dumbledore only barely had enough; he wasn't even sure if Riddle could do it. After that, he bowed his head to the students, and apparated to the Hog's Head; he may not get along great with his brother, but they were still brothers.

Almost as soon as the Headmaster had apparated, the teens were laying on the couch, Harry with his back to the cushions, and Hermione with her back to Harry. "Hermione," Harry started, "why were you so mad at Dumbledore?"

Hermione sighed. She should have known he would notice. "He placed with those evil people for your 'protection', but never checked to make sure you were protected from them. There's no excuse for that in my book!"

Harry smiled a bit and, deciding to tease her, said, "Which book, exactly?"

She giggled and hit his arm, saying in a mock whine, "Harry!"

He just smiled, and wrapped his arms more tightly around her. She grabbed the remote, turned on the tv, and snuggled into him as they watched. It wasn't long before they were asleep.

That was how Dan and Emma found them when they got home.


	13. Running

_That was how Dan and Emma found them when they got home._

Harry woke up almost as soon as the adult Grangers were in the living room, and looked at them a bit fearfully. Emma gave him a soft smile, and pulled Dan up the stairs, who _really_ looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't want to wake his daughter.

Once upstairs, Emma whispered, "Behave!"

"He has his arms wrapped around our little girl, Emma!" Dan whispered back fiercely.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yes, he does. And she wasn't tossing and turning in a nightmare like she usually does. In fact, she looked very peaceful."

Dan looked a bit stunned by this. _That boy is helping my little girl through nightmares?_ He couldn't wrap his head around the thought. "He's not good enough for our daughter!" He whispered, half-defiant, half-pleading.

To his surprise, Emma looked sad at that. Instead of arguing, she said, "Tomorrow, ask Harry if he thinks he is good enough for her, and why. Now, let's get some sleep." Dan nodded and followed his wife into their bed, thinking about his daughter and what he would say to Harry tomorrow.

The next morning, Harry was the first one in the Granger household awake. He just lay there, holding Hermione, and trying to figure out what was going to happen today. He wasn't pondering for long before Hermione began to stir in his arms. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, whispering, "Good morning, love."

Hermione smiled, truly enjoying being woken up this way. "Good morning, Harry."

Harry decided to just get it off his chest. "I think your dad wants me dead," he said by way of an opening. He was not anticipating her reaction.

Hermione started laughing. "So does Voldemort, but that doesn't seem to bother you," she said, still laughing. She laughed even harder at his mortified expression.

"It's not the same," he insisted. He couldn't understand why Hermione just laughed harder, but it was infectious, and he couldn't help but start to smile as well. "What's so funny?"

"It's just…so…true!" She said, still cracking up. "Voldemort…the most powerful….Dark Wizard…ever…doesn't…bother…you…but…a muggle…" She couldn't finish, she was laughing too hard.

Harry chuckled with her. "Yeah," he said, "but I can't fight back against your dad! He's too important to you!" Hermione, practically in tears from laughter, could only nod.

"Alright," Dan said, hiding his amusement when the teens jumped, "what's the ruckus?" Hermione, who had been startled into silence at her dad's entrance, just started laughing again. Harry's stricken expression didn't help her. He turned to Harry, confused, and said, "Okay, you tell me then." Harry just looked down, blushing. Dan was now truly perplexed and went to make coffee while he waited for his daughter to calm down.

Hermione had managed to stop laughing as hard by the time Dan finished his coffee, but she would still giggle if she looked at either of the two men in the room. When Dan was about halfway through his coffee, Hermione finally managed to say, "Harry's terrified of you." She managed to not laugh as she said it. It was made easier when Dan gave a very serious growl that sounded like 'he should be'. All humor was gone from Hermione's eyes, now. "No, he shouldn't be!" She shouted at her father, standing up. "His parents were murdered by a Dark Wizard; he was sent to live with abusive relatives-as you saw; those relatives have been killed by the same Dark Wizard that killed his parents; and now that Dark Wizard wants him dead! He really doesn't need the added pressure of being afraid of you!" She finally gave in to Harry's insistent tug on her arm and sat back down on the couch with a huff.

Dan was shocked by his daughter's outburst; they hadn't been told about his relatives' deaths, just that he needed a place to stay. They had just assumed it was to get away from his relatives. However, the most shocking part was seeing his daughter defend him; she had rarely argued with her parents that way, and it had _never_ been in the defense of someone else.

"Mr. Granger," Harry interrupted his thoughts, "I can go somewhere else if you want me too. I don't want to become between Hermione and you." He rose from the couch. "I'll go get my stuff and head to Grimmauld Place. Goodbye, Hermione, Mr. Granger. Please tell Mrs. Granger I said goodbye, as well."

The two watched Harry for a minute, too shocked to think of anything to say or do. He had grabbed his trunk and was halfway out the door before Hermione finally collected her thoughts and bolted after him. Unfortunately, she made it just in time to see the Knight Bus disappear, and fell to her knees, sobbing.

Mr. Granger had come out to find his daughter sobbing on the doorstep. He reached down to comfort her, but she whirled and smacked his hand away, screaming, "Don't touch me!" She then turned away from him and ran down the street, still crying.

Emma had heard the ruckus and had come downstairs to find out what was going on, like her husband had. She found the front door open, with her husband standing outside staring down the street. "What's going on?" She asked him, still tired.

"Our daughter ran away," Dan answered his wife in a stunned voice. Emma suddenly didn't feel so sleepy.

"What do you mean, 'she ran away'?" She asked her husband dangerously, dragging him inside; he didn't seem capable of moving himself, and let himself be dragged into the living room and pushed onto the chair he had been sitting on a few minutes ago.

Dan was staring into space as he explained what happened. He didn't seem able to comprehend it. Emma had no such difficulties. "You chased our daughter away from us?" She asked testily. Dan seemed shocked about it being put like that, but nodded and burst into tears. "You better hope she comes back so you can apologize," Emma said venomously; it took a lot to anger her, but when she was mad, only someone really brave or really stupid messed with her.

At 11 Grimmauld Place, a messy-haired wizard got off the Knight Bus and walked next door. No one saw him enter 12 Grimmauld Place, and no one heard him collapse, sobbing, just inside the door.


	14. Knowledge and Acceptance

_At 11 Grimmauld Place, a messy-haired wizard got off the Knight Bus and walked next door. No one saw him enter 12 Grimmauld Place, and no one heard him collapse, sobbing, just inside the door._

Hermione was also sobbing, though she wasn't able to control herself as long as Harry had. She had reached a park that she had always gone to when kids had picked on her, and was now crying on a bench.

_Curse Harry and his bloody nobility!_ She thought to herself.

_He wouldn't be who he is without it,_ a voice she recognized as her conscience told her.

_I know!_ She thought angrily at it. _It doesn't mean I have to like it all the time! And what about my father, hmm? What's his excuse?_

_He wants to protect you,_ her conscience said.

Hermione snorted. _You don't rip someone's heart out to protect them,_ she snarled in her head.

_Harry would have done the same if you were his daughter,_ her conscience said.

Hermione snorted again. _No he wouldn't, he would get to know the boy, and _then_ run him out of the house._

Her conscience had no response, and let Hermione continue sobbing. It was less than twenty minutes later that Emma Granger found her daughter in an exhausted stupor on the park bench.

Harry had managed to pick himself up and go to the room he had been in the last time he had been here. The tears were still streaming down his face, but he was used to doing things with tear-filled eyes. When he got to the room he collapsed on his bed and started his own internal debate.

_At least I won't come between Hermione and her parents now,_ he thought.

_Right,_ his conscience responded sarcastically, _because I'm sure she'll just let you go off by yourself like she always has._

_She won't leave her parents,_ Harry thought, rather weakly if he was being honest.

His conscience merely snorted, not lowering itself to reply.

Like Hermione, Harry sobbed himself into an unconscious stupor, but no one came to find him.

As Harry was still sobbing, Emma carried her daughter into the house, glaring at her husband viciously when he tried to approach. She placed Hermione on her bed before going downstairs to reprimand her husband.

"I warned you!" She said to him in a voice that Voldemort would have fled from. "I told you to talk to him! How could you not see how important he is to our daughter? As soon as Hermione is awake, she's going to go to Harry. Hopefully I'll have enough time to tell her he's welcome here, or we'll lose our daughter!"

"I was just teasing him…." Dan tried to defend himself, knowing he had been fairly serious. Emma just looked at him in disgust, and went back upstairs to wait for her daughter to wake up.

She wasn't waiting long before her daughter began to stir. She was quickly wide awake and heading to the door. She hadn't even realized that her mother was in the room, and jumped when she heard, "Hey!"

"Mom, I'm going to Harry," she said quickly, and in a tone that said nothing would stop her.

She was very surprised when her mother smiled and said, "I know, honey. I just wanted to make sure you were going to come back with him rather than stay with him."

It took Hermione's usually quick brain a moment to work out what her mother was saying. Once she did, she flung herself at her mother with a squeal and a quick-but tight-hug before fleeing downstairs. She only stopped at the door for a moment to say thank you to her mother before continuing her mad dash. She was on the Knight Bus and headed towards 11 Grimmauld Place before her father could try and say anything.

Harry, too, was awake, but not even close to happy. Even Kreacher thought he was depressing. He just sat on his bed, rocking back and forth while squeezing his pillow and wishing it was Hermione instead.

Harry didn't hear the door to Grimmauld Place open all of a sudden, and wasn't even aware that a person was in the house until the door to his room slammed open. He barely had time to jump in shock before a bushy-haired missile hit him. They both took a moment to hold each other through tears and enjoy the other's company.

After a moment, Hermione pulled back with her hands on her hips. "Harry James Potter, what were you thinking?" She asked, doing her best to appear angry and distraught when just being with him again made her want to sing.

Harry responded, "Hermione, I will not come between you and your parents. Ever." He turned away sadly and whispered to himself, "Even if it breaks my heart."

Despite Harry's efforts, Hermione heard him, and struggled not to gasp. Despite having been in his mind and seeing how much she meant to him, she had lived with insecurities as long as she could remember, just like he had. She was amazed that leaving her could hurt him that much, and that he would put himself through that for her and her parents. She desperately wanted to hug him, and threw herself at him again.

When she pulled back, she said, "You're not going to come between me and my parents, Harry. I'll admit, I might be a bit mad at my dad for a while, but my mum insisted that when I came to you I bring you back."

Harry looked at her in disbelief. It was still strange to him that _she_ wanted him around, how was he supposed to believe that her parents did?

Hermione saw the disbelief that was clearly written all over his face, and decided she would try and prove it. Concentrating on the memory of the conversation she had had with her mother, she _pushed_ it into Harry's mind.

Harry absorbed the memory with all the calm of frightened child; none at all. He had to sit on the bed in his shock, sure that his legs wouldn't hold him. He pinched his arm.

Hermione had to giggle a bit at that, though she also rolled her eyes. "Yes, Harry, you're really awake. And you're going to come to my house!" She bit her lower lip and looked away. "Unless you don't want to…."

Harry stood up to comfort his girlfriend; he hated seeing her like this. "Hermione, of course I want to-"

"Good," she said cutting him off. "Because I'm not giving you a choice," she said with a smirk to let him know she had been acting. "Now come on!" She grabbed his hand and his trunk and pulled him out the door where they called the Knight Bus. The attendant on the bus just rolled his eyes; in two days, they had been on the bus six times.

Although the trip took less than ten minutes because of the way Ernie drove, Harry still had plenty of time to worry about what his reception would be like, and his girlfriend let him, so he could find out how groundless they had been.

When they got back to the Granger residence, Emma greeted them. She had been sitting by the window, anxious for their return. She pulled Hermione into a hug, and then-to the amazement of the teens-turned and did the same thing to Harry.

When Mrs. Granger hugged Harry, he couldn't help but compare her to Mrs. Weasley-the only person besides Hermione who had ever hugged him that he could remember. It was very different, and he liked it a lot more. It had the feel of motherliness that Mrs. Weasley had, but in a different way; it was more comforting than smothering-and Harry found himself squeezing her back and crying. Something about her made him feel like a lost child who had been found again.

Emma looked startled at the fierceness of the hug Harry was returning, and couldn't understand why he was crying. She looked to her daughter with the silent question in her eyes. Hermione just shook her head with a mix of sad understanding and anger, though Emma had no idea what she was angry about.

She mentally shrugged the question off for right now, and led Harry-who was still hugging her-indoors. It was a little awkward, but something about this young man (she couldn't think of him as a boy) called out to her, and she continued to hold him.

Dan jumped up when the trio came inside, very confused by the sight of his wife and Harry hugging while his daughter carried his trunk and still held his hand. And he was crying! He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was grateful that his wife had made him stay inside.

He immediately went to his daughter to apologize and hug her, but she shrugged him off with barely a glance in his direction. Unable to bear it, he slunk back to his chair and sank into it, watching as Hermione kissed Harry's cheek, removed her hand from his, and brought his trunk upstairs. By this time Harry had stopped crying, and was just holding Emma.

After a few moments, she gently let go of Harry and led him to the couch, whispering to Harry, "Talk to my husband for a little while. No matter he says, don't leave." She then kissed his cheek and headed upstairs to talk to her daughter.

Dan and Harry both shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at each other. Finally, Dan broke the awkward silence. "Harry, I wanted to apologize for-"

"There's no need to apologize, sir," Harry quickly interrupted. "You want to protect your daughter. _I_ want to apologize for leaving without actually talking to you."

"Well, let's talk then," Dan said, not knowing what else to say. After another moment of awkward silence, Dan decided to do as his wife had told him to do. "Harry, do you think you're worthy of my daughter?"

To Dan's surprise, Harry snorted. "Sir, _no one_ is worthy of your daughter. As a father and someone who knows her, I'm sure you already know this, but your daughter is smart, loyal, brave, and beautiful. I don't think I've met anyone else with all those qualities. I myself can only claim to be loyal and brave. Who can be worthy of that?"

Dan was coming to believe that the young man in front of him might be, albeit grudgingly. He doubted anyone else his age was so mature. However, he decided he would play the 'father-protecting-his-daughter' role a little bit more. "No one can. However, Hermione seems to believe you are." He leaned forward in the chair and gave Harry a stern look. "Now, what are your intentions towards my daughter?"

Harry replied unhesitatingly, "I intend to make her smile every moment of every day; when she's not smiling, I can't. However, I will make her unhappy if it will keep her safe. If me leaving her will protect her, it doesn't matter how much it will hurt the two of us, I'll do it."

Dan smiled a little bit, admiring the maturity of the young man in front of him. "If you keep thinking that, we'll get along just fine, Harry.

"On a different subject, Hermione tells me you play a sport called Quidditch. What is that, what position are you, and how do you play?"

"Well, sir…" Harry started. They were talking for a while, leaving the women to talk in peace.

Upstairs, in Hermione's bedroom, Emma was talking to her daughter, and not mentioning that Harry's trunk was in her room. "So, honey, tell me about the handsome young man downstairs," she said in a slightly teasing tone, causing Hermione to blush.

"Mum, he's a great guy," Hermione started. "As you said, he's handsome, but he's also brave, loyal, honorable, talented, and smart-when he tries, at least," she said with a small smile. "He's also probably one of the richest people in the world, but he doesn't care. He even gave me access to his vault," she said as the smile turned a little sad.

That smile turned into a mask of anger and sadness when Emma asked, "But why was he crying when I hugged him?" Hermione pulled out her wand and casted a silencing charm and a locking charm before conjuring a bucket. "What's this for?" Emma asked, a little wary now.

Hermione patted the bed next to her, indicating her mother should join her. She sighed and responded, "You're going to want it. I hope you haven't eaten too much today." With that ominous beginning, she launched into the tale of "Harry Potter before Hogwarts". Her parents knew most of what happened since first year, as she talked about little else.

"When Harry was fifteen months old, the Darkest wizard to date went to his house to murder him." Seeing the dual look her mother had, she said, "Yes, he went to kill a fifteen-month-old baby, and yes, that is the one who has been back for over a year. Anyway, his father was murdered as his mother ran with him. She begged for Harry not to be killed before sacrificing herself for him. Apparently, this created some type of blood protection for Harry, so when Voldemort went to kill Harry, the curse bounced back and hit Voldemort instead.

"Many people feared that he wasn't gone, and that even if he was, his followers were still around. So they did they only thing they could think of, and placed him with his last living blood relatives to continue the blood protection. Then the horror begins." Hermione's face darkened. Her parents had seen the beatings, but they weren't aware how far back the abuse went, or the emotional and mental abuse that went with it.

"You saw the beatings," Hermione said to her mother, who nodded. "That was just a small part of it." Emma paled; she wasn't so sure she wanted to hear this anymore. But she steeled herself, thinking that she could handle it for her daughter. "When Harry was given to the Dursleys, they locked him in a cupboard under the stairs and decided they weren't going to buy him anything; all of his clothes are the castoffs of Dudley. I think you may have seen the cupboard, by the way." Emma's face went from pale to a dark red in seconds; she had seen it, and it was tiny. "When he was two," Hermione continued, "they began teaching him to cook and clean. Being two, he wasn't very good at it to begin with, and was hit with a spatula or a wooden spoon every time he messed up.

"By the time he was three, he could make almost any dish from scratch and a maid would have been jealous of how well he cleaned. The Dursleys still weren't happy; he received beatings for looking at the tv or trying to play with a toy, then thrown in the cupboard for the day. They let him out to cook, but he wasn't allowed to eat.

"At four, they decided he was strong enough to weed the garden. He wasn't. For every weed he couldn't pull, he received a hit with the paddle; there were a lot of weeds. It was a year before he could finally weed-a long year. He tried to kill himself twice before; once with drain cleaner, and then by jumping off the roof. The two occasions were Christmas and his birthday."

Emma grabbed the bucket and puked. What monster made a child want to kill himself before he was six? But her daughter wasn't done.

"The Dursleys birthday present to Harry when he turned six was a spatula so he could cook them food. Dudley's present on Harry's birthday was a wooden bat; he was told that Harry was for practice." Emma lost her stomach contents again. "When Harry tried to run, he was thrown in his cupboard. Unfortunately, he was often thrown literally, breaking bones. That year, he tried to kill himself twice again-it became a yearly ritual until he came to Hogwarts. I won't go over each attempt.

"Finally, they went to school. Harry thought that he had a chance of making friends there. Anyone who tried ended up on the end of Dudley's fist. People didn't try long, and Dudley soon had a gang who made the game Harry Hunting. While he was home, he was still doing all the cooking, cleaning, and weeding. Despite all this, Harry did his best at school. He was top of the class, like I was." Emma gave a small smile, hoping things were going to get better. They weren't. "When he showed his aunt and uncle his report card of all A+'s at the end of the year, he was beaten so badly he had broken ribs and forearms. They then threw him in his cupboard, exacerbating the breaks." Emma threw up again. "They left him there for a week, since he couldn't do anything for them. He had to set his arms with his legs. The first time he did it, he cried out with the pain; after they broke his legs," Emma vomited again, "he set them silently. The rest of the time he was at school, he didn't try to make friends or do anything.

"He had to struggle for survival from the age of two. He was more mature than most adults by the age of 6, even if he doesn't know it. The reason he cried when you hugged him was because it made him think of being held by his mother. Other than myself and Mrs. Weasley, you're the only female who has hugged him, but he thinks of me in a different way, and Mrs. Weasley was too smothering. It was the first hug he had that made him think of a hug from his mother. The same almost happened when he hugged Sirius, but with everything that's been going on, his emotions are too wild for him to control."

When her daughter was done, Emma placed the bucket on the ground and pulled her into a fierce hug while they cried. When they were done, Hermione did the scourgify charm on the bucket, and Emma-trying to lighten the mood-asked, "Did I hold up better than you?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. But you probably would have, had I been able to throw up."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked cautiously.

"I wasn't in my body when I found out about all of this," Hermione responded. "I was in Harry's head and lived it." Emma immediately grabbed for the bucket, retching. When she was done, she sobbed into Hermione's arms.

After they gathered themselves together, Hermione scourgified the bucket, they cleaned themselves up, and they headed down stairs, where Harry was just finishing up by explaining the value of the snitch.

When they saw the women-and the tear stains-both men jumped up and asked simultaneously, "What happened?" Both women just shook their heads; they would both tell them later.

"What have you boys been up to?" Hermione asked, since Emma was trying not to cry at the sight of Harry.

"Harry was just explaining Quidditch to me," Dan said before Harry could say anything.

"Did he also mention that he's one of the best seeker's Hogwarts has seen?" Hermione asked with a smile at Harry's blush.

"You're biased Hermione!" Harry argued.

Hermione smirked. "Yeah, but McGonagall's not, and she's the one who said it!" Harry blushed more, but stopped arguing. Unfortunately for his red face, Hermione wasn't done. "She also went on to say she included Krum in that," she added, enjoying the deep red his face turned.

"Who's Krum?" Emma and Dan asked simultaneously. Harry groaned and put his head in his hands.

Hermione's smile grew wider. "Viktor Krum is the seeker for Bulgaria. Anyone who hasn't seen Harry in action says he's the best seeker in the world." Hermione's parents ogled at him.

Hermione decided to take pity on Harry and asked if they wanted to play Monopoly. The three Grangers struggled to keep the smiles on their faces when Harry asked what it was. He just shrugged when they said he would find out, and said, "Okay. I'll make lunch while you guys set up."

Emma jerked as though she had been struck and growled/shouted, "No!" Harry flinched and cowered away from her, looking like he expected a beating-_which he instinctively might after those bloody relatives of his_, Emma though/growled to herself. She went over to him and pulled him into a hug, whispering, "I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to snap. But after Hermione told me how you grew up-" she cut herself off when Harry stiffened and Hermione gasped.

Harry wrenched himself from Emma's arms and screamed at Hermione, "How could you do this? I trusted you!" He bolted out the house, tears streaming down his face. Hermione was out the door right behind him.

Dan turned to his wife, and said, "Okay, what happened?" Emma sighed, saying she would be right back.

When she came back down the stairs, she handed him the bucket Hermione had conjured to him. "You'll need it," she said before giving him the exact lecture Hermione had given her. When she was done, the bucket was almost full.

Meanwhile, outside, Hermione had tackled Harry and was struggling to hold him still. "Will you at least let me explain?" She shouted through her tears.

Harry stopped struggling as much when he heard the tears, but was stubborn enough to argue, "What's to explain? You betrayed me."

"I would _never_ betray you Harry," Hermione said. "You've been in mind, you know it's true. But they have a right to know if you're going to be living with them. They need to know that something small might get an unexpected result. Harry, you may be one of the strongest people I know, but the Dursleys did a lot of damage. They have a right to know."

Harry struggled with himself to accept this as true. He finally grumbled, "Fine, but I don't want pity."

"It won't be pity, not from my parents," Hermione said. "They'll mostly be pissed at the Dursleys, and say sorry a lot. My dad will mostly be sorry he can't legally kill them, though."

"Hermione, can I get up now?" Harry asked after a moment of contemplation.

"But I like holding you," she protested.

"Yeah, but there's a really special girl I have to apologize to, and I think she might appreciate a kiss," he said. He barely finished the last word before Hermione flipped him to face her and kissed him. Harry decided that it was a good compromise.

A bit later, when they got to Hermione's house, Harry stated he didn't want any pity, and that he had come to like cooking. He decided to not notice the bucket. He then went to the kitchen to cook. Emma went to follow, but Hermione shook her head and said, "Let's go set up. We discussed it, and he said he was just going to make sandwiches."

When the money was handed out and the sandwiches served, Hermione asked what pieces everyone wanted, saying she was going to transfigure them into whatever they wanted, and animate them so they knew how many spaces to go without being told. Harry went with the stag, Hermione went with an otter, Emma decided on a panther, and Dan wanted a Hawk. Hermione quickly cast the spells to transfigure and animate them, as well as the lightweight charm on the Hawk so Dan's piece could fly.

Harry was the first one bankrupt, but he was quickly followed by Dan. They'd only been playing for half an hour, but the Granger women were _good_. However, they were pretty even and were more or less tied four hours later. The three Grangers were so intent on the game (Dan was rooting for both of them) that they didn't hear Harry get up and start cooking. When he returned about an hour and a half later, it was with four bowls filled with a food none of the Grangers had eaten before. The women quickly declared a tie and abandoned the game to eat.

"Harry, this is delicious!" Emma said. "But what is it?"

Harry smiled, pleased with the recognition. "It's chicken pepperoni. I fry the pepperoni first, then fry the chicken in the sauce. The pasta is cooked separately."

They all picked up after the meal and watched _Batman Begins_. Neither of the adults said anything about Hermione sitting in his lap.

"Wow, that was great!" Harry said. "I've never been allowed to see a movie before. Can we watch another?"

Dan forced a laugh and said, "You can tomorrow, Harry. For now, let's go to bed." Harry started, and looked nervously at Hermione.

Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Harry and I are sleeping together in the literal sense, not the figurative sense. Neither of us is ready for that. But holding each other in sleep prevents us both from nightmares."

The father part of Dan struggled to argue, but he consciously beat it down. "What have you done?" He asked.

The teens blushed a bit, and Harry looked down sheepishly, but Hermione said, "We've only gone as far as kissing."

Dan breathed a sigh of release, as did Emma. They both allowed the teens to continue upstairs, and waved Harry's thanks away.

**A/N:**

**Chicken Pepperoni is an actual meal that my father makes, and it's one of my favorites.**

**I know that the Dursleys weren't this violent in canon, but I figure that the books were geared more towards kids. I adjusted by how I think the Dursleys would have behaved without watering them down. **


	15. Birthdays, Visitors, and Letters

_Dan breathed a sigh of release, as did Emma. They both allowed the teens to continue upstairs, and waved Harry's thanks away._

The next day, they started to set a routine. Harry was usually the first one up, and would make breakfast for the other three people in the house. Before he was finished, the two adults would often come down and make themselves coffee. He usually got to spoil Hermione by feeding her in bed-and he loved spoiling Hermione.

Later on, for lunch, Hermione would make sandwiches on the weekdays, and Dan would on the weekends. Emma would usually make dinner, but Harry would insist on making some foods from scratch every once in a while, and they would all go out on Saturdays once the adults were back from work.

Outside of meals, Hermione had a timetable, which made Harry laugh, then wince theatrically as Hermione playfully smacked him for it. Between breakfast and lunch, they would spend time playing games, such as Boggle, Parcheesi, Sorry, and numerous different card games.

After lunch, they would study one of the books for about an hour (except the magical bond book, they avoided it for some reason), practice whatever they were trying to learn, and then dueled to get into shape. They couldn't do much with the Animagus or mind magic books, though, and abandoned them after a couple of days. They did find out that the mind sharing they had done was not legillimency, though.

After dinner, it was a simple movie, and then bed. Dan didn't even grumble anymore about the teens sharing a bed; they were both still insecure in their relationship and hadn't done anything more than kiss still.

That wasn't to say that they had a perfect summer; they didn't. One of the adults would say or do something to tease Harry, and he would flinch and pale for a moment before figuring it out. They all tensed when this happened, and it took a little while before everyone settled down. Harry, however, had the time of his life for the most part.

It wasn't until his birthday that they realized that they hadn't heard from any of the Weasleys. It was the same day that everything went crazy.

On that day, Dumbledore decided to do something he hadn't done before and check up on Harry. He popped to the Granger's front step, and knocked on the door. Dan answered, laughing at something one of the teens had said. His face immediately went blank at the sight of the Headmaster-this was the man who had put a child in what was essentially a house of torture.

"Please, come in," he intoned stiffly, stepping aside. Albus was a bit worried now; as far as he knew, the Grangers had no reason to be cold towards him.

"Thank you, Mr. Granger," he responded, hiding his fears. "Lemon drop?" Dan shook his head and led the headmaster to a room full of laughter and presents. When they saw the Headmaster, all laughter died. Everyone in the room was looking at the Headmaster with differing degrees of coldness, Harry looked particularly angry, and Dumbledore was now very worried; he couldn't recall anyone go from laughing to angry so quickly.

"Ah," he said, trying to divert attention, "were you, by any chance, playing knock-out whist?"

"Yes, we were," Harry responded. "We were also having fun. Then you walked in."

Dumbledore winced internally at Harry's bluntness, and was a bit surprised that Hermione didn't seem to mind him challenging authority-she used to obey it mindlessly. Dumbledore decided that if Harry would be blunt, he would be, too. "Would you mind telling me what I did to offend you, Harry?" He asked.

"Would you mind telling me what you're doing here?" Harry responded.

"I'm just here to see how you're doing, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. He would have continued, but Hermione jumped up in anger.

"You came to _check up on him?_" She asked venomously, stalking towards the Headmaster. "Where were you when he actually _needed_ you to check on him? Where were you while his relatives treated him worse than the Malfoys treated Dobby? _WHERE WERE YOU THEN?"_ She thundered at him.

Dumbledore took a step back, startled by her vehemence. He also realized just how alone he was; no Order member knew where this place was and the three other people in the house agreed with Hermione completely. He felt an unfamiliar sensation flow through him as he realized that both teens were so angry that they were starting to lose control of their magic.

"I-I-I" he stammered, unable to think of an appropriate response.

Hermione laughed derisively. "What, the Great Albus Dumbledore can't come up with something?" She mocked. "Of course he can't. There's no excuse! You left him to rot in a situation that made Hell look like a reprieve! And you have the nerve to check on him while he's _here_?"

Dumbledore decided he didn't like fear. To abate their anger, he did something he hadn't done in decades, and bowed. "You are correct, Miss Granger. I suppose I should be used to that by now," he commented wryly. "I admit that I also came on behalf of the Weasleys; they were very upset to be unable to contact you. I also thought you would like to warn them of your…status…before seeing Ronald or Ginevra."

The teens lost their heat, and looked at each other in shock; they'd barely thought about the Weasleys at all. They conversed silently.

_How did we forget about them, love?_ Harry asked.

Hermione gave a slight shake to her head. _I don't know, Harry. But what do we do about it now?_

Harry gave a slight shrug. _I don't know. Why couldn't they contact us, anyway?_

_My guess would be the Fidelius,_ Hermione responded.

_I thought that was meant for people!_

Hermione gave another slight shake of her head. _No, people wouldn't want to let Nagini in, for example._

Harry gave a slight nod. _Okay, but what do we do now?_

Hermione shrugged. _Perhaps Dumbledore has a suggestion,_ she said acidly.

"What exactly should we do about the situation with the Weasleys?" Harry asked the Headmaster coldly.

"Might I suggest sending Hedwig with a letter? Other than Crookshanks, she is probably the only animal that can get through the wards right now." Harry nodded thoughtfully.

Returning his gaze to the Headmaster, Harry said, "If you would excuse us, we were celebrating," and promptly turned his back, looking at his cards.

Dumbledore confessed privately that he was irked at the dismissal, but he did leave, and heard Harry say as though his interruption was unimportant, "Whose turn was it again?"

After the game, Harry and Hermione reluctantly decided to write to the Weasleys, explaining their summer so far; Harry and Hermione feared Ron's reaction to them dating, and Hermione had the added worry that Ginny would react badly as well, since she hadn't truly gotten over her crush on Harry.

After that was taken care of, it was time for presents! They knew Harry would have protested too many presents, so they only got him one each-this time. Harry didn't really care what they were, he was just excited to be getting presents for his birthday surrounded by people who cared about him.

The first present he opened was from Dan (they told him emphatically that they would not be called Mr. Granger or Mrs. Granger inside their own house). He had no idea what he was going to be getting from Hermione's father, and was a little nervous in case he decided he wanted to separate them.

He opened it up, and found a remote-control airplane. He stared at it, slack-jawed; he remembered when Dudley had gotten his, and remembered how much he had wished for one of his own. He spent so long just staring at it that Dan started to get nervous. Just before he could say anything, he found himself being squeezed to death by a crying, black-haired, wizard. After a moment, Harry pulled back and whispered, "Thank you," while wiping tears from his eyes. Unseen behind him, the women were doing the same thing.

Dan whispered back with a smile, "You're welcome." Harry's face had a definite red tinge as he went back to his other two presents, and he refused to look at anyone else in the room as he started to open the present he got from Emma. Inside the box, he found one of those miniature race car tracks where two people can race tiny remote-control cars. It was another thing that Harry had always wanted, and Emma soon found herself in the same predicament that Dan had just moments ago. All four people were wiping their eyes when Harry went back to his final present.

Harry looked at the present from Hermione, and hesitated. He looked up at her and asked, "Am I gonna cry again?" Hermione just shrugged with a look that said 'you'll see'. Harry was afraid that that was a yes, and cautiously began to open the present. Inside the third-and last-box was something Harry had never expected to see; he saw a mirror that looked exactly like the one that Sirius had given him. He looked up at Hermione, stuttering, "W-what…H-how…?" Before she could respond, he was overcome with emotion and threw himself at her.

"Remus helped me with the charms," Hermione whispered to him. "I have its pair."

"You always know what I need," Harry whispered, squeezing her tighter. "But I wish you had told me I was gonna cry again!" He said, and jumped when the two adults laughed; he'd forgotten about them.

"Harry, it's okay to cry every once in a while," Emma told him.

Harry snorted and said without thinking, "Try telling that to my uncle!" He paled a bit when he realized what he said, and everyone else stiffened for a moment until Hermione hugged him to make him feel better.

Dan cleared his throat uncomfortably and said, "I'll…go make lunch." Everyone just nodded to him, and Hermione asked Harry if he wanted to play with the plane or the track. The two women laughed when he looked torn for a moment, but he decided on the track since two people could play with it, and everyone could help build it.

They were halfway through it when Dan came in with ham and cheese sandwiches. Harry asked if they could work on the track while they ate, so they did. They finished the track a few minutes after everyone was done eating, and Hermione did the dishes. While Hermione washed the dishes, her mother washed them and the boys played with the track. Neither of them was able to make it around, though, the cars kept falling off. That didn't really matter to them, though, since it was fun anyway. Neither of them even noticed that the two women had come in and were watching them play like little kids until Hermione cleared her throat and said, "We have to get to work, Harry."

He looked momentarily crestfallen, but he enjoyed learning this stuff and spending time with his girlfriend, so he responded with a smile, "Okay, love, I'll be right there." He then turned to Emma and handed her the remote for the car. Leaning in, he whispered, "Kick his butt for me," causing Emma to laugh. She was still laughing as he headed towards the backyard.

Today, they had decided to study _How to Fight a Wizard._ They found out that the book was actually for muggle parents, but it worked just as well for them. It gave them tips on how to dodge spells, and even mentioned that a medieval shield mad of iron would block most spells; the only ones that were really a problem were spells like reducto, since the force could still dent the shield and damage the users arm, and, of course, the Unforgivables. Apparently, dodging was the only way to get around those.

After a couple of hours, the two teens were tired and sweaty from dodging, casting, and being hit by the Tickling Charm. They had both managed to get better at dodging and aiming, so despite the fact that they both sustained the same number of hits in the end as when they had started, they were rather pleased with the results.

After they both took their showers, they had a nice meal of chicken pepperoni, which Harry had taught Emma how to make. Hermione made a joke about the fact that it was now a family favorite, and Harry added, "And mine, too!"

Emma responded, "That's what she said, dear." Harry just sat there for a moment, stunned. Then, with a hurried, 'excuse me,' he left the table and headed upstairs, though not before everyone saw the tears.

Halfway up the stairs, he turned around, went back down, and said, "Thank you," before running back up the stairs. The Grangers smiled sadly to each other, and decided to leave him in peace. It was only a few minutes before he came back down to continue eating, and everyone decided to act as though nothing had happened.

Once everyone had their fill, Dan did the dishes, since the women had already done, and Harry was told that he wasn't allowed since it was his birthday; the only reason he had been allowed to make breakfast was because he had been up first.

Fortunately, everyone in the house was pretty good at doing the dishes, so it didn't take long before they could watch the movie of the night, _Blade Trinity_. They had already watched the other two, and Harry was curious to see how it ended. Hermione was the only one who knew he was trying to find a way to defeat Voldemort and his Nibblers.

When the movie was over, Harry was deep in thought, and didn't notice when Emma got up and went to the kitchen. When she came back, she had cake that she placed on the coffee table in front of Harry with a slight bang that made Harry jump. He looked at the cake for a minute in confusion, then the three Grangers, before realization dawned and he started to cry again. "You guys like making me cry, don't you?" He accused teasingly.

Hermione, who had been hugging him since the end of dinner, squeezed him tighter and responded, "No, Harry; we like to make you happy."

Harry sniffed, wiped his eyes, and said, "You guys do too much for me."

Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "It's you're birthday, we're supposed to!" No one was surprised when he had to wipe his eyes again.

"Alright," he said. "But no singing!"

The three Grangers smiled at each other. "Sorry, Harry, but it's traditional." With that, they burst into song before he could say anything else, causing him to bury his face in his hands. When they were done, everyone noticed that his ears were a bright red, and Hermione-unable to resist-teased him about being like Ron.

Harry didn't even lift his head when he responded. "No, you fight too much to kiss him." Hermione, of course, flushed as well as both of her parents started laughing.

"Who wants cake?" Hermione asked desperately, trying to turn the attention to something else. The two adults looked at each other, gave a slight nod, and jumped and down like little kids, saying "Me, me, me, me!" _Good thing still Harry has his head down,_ Hermione thought to herself (they'd learned how to keep from projecting to each other), _because Mum isn't a little kid anymore, and she's putting on a show!_

Emma and Dan both seemed to figure this out as well, and they both stopped jumping; for once, it was their turn to become maroon, causing Hermione to laugh. Emma quickly went to the kitchen to grab a cake knife; they had decided that Harry was going to have enough attention today, and so hadn't done the candles.

Soon enough, everyone had eaten a slice of cake and headed to bed. When they got their room, Hermione pulled Harry into a deep kiss that left them both a bit flushed. "You have another birthday present, Harry. But since it helps me, too, and my parents won't understand it, I wanted to give it to you in private." Harry's mind was so deep in the gutter right now that he needed a lifesaver, and Hermione could tell. She smacked his arm gently. "Not that, you prat!" Harry blushed a little, and smirked at the rhyme. "Come here," Hermione said rolling her eyes and pulling him towards a box by her bed.

When she opened it, he saw tons of vials filled with potions ingredients. He was confused for a moment, until he started to read the labels, when he gasped. "Hermione, these are the ingredients for the Animagus potion!"

Hermione giggled. "I know that, Harry! Why do you think I got them?" She rolled her eyes. "I figured we could start working on it tomorrow."

Harry hugged her, saying, "You're the best, 'Mione!" She took that as a yes, and then groaned as she realized he now had _two_ nicknames for her, and she didn't even have _one_ for him!

Harry pulled back with a look of concern. "What is it?" He asked.

"I still need a nickname for you," she groaned.

Harry just chuckled and pulled her back into the hug. "Why not just use love, like I do?"

"Because I want something to call you that _I_ came up with!" Hermione was rather competitive. Harry shrugged, and she racked her brains. _What do I love as much as Harry?_ She asked herself. _Well, nothing, actually. What come in second? My parents obviously, but I can't call him 'Daddy,' it's a bit too kinky for now,_ she thought with a deep blush. _Well, what does Harry do? He has his saving-people-thing. It's almost like he thinks he's a knight!_ "I've got it!" She exclaimed, pulling back. "You can be my knight!" She giggled when Harry blushed at the nickname. "Every girl wants a knight in shining armor," she teased.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I left my armor at school," he said, smiling when Hermione laughed. He doubted he would ever get tired of that laugh. "Come on, love, let's go to bed," Harry said, turning off the light and pulling her towards it. There was no resistance from her, but before they got there, there was a tapping on the window; Hedwig had returned.

"Hedwig!" Harry said happily, going over to open the window. She landed on his arm, and stuck out her leg with two letters on it. "Thanks, girl," Harry said, petting her after he had gotten the letters. She hooted softly in response, and flew out the window, probably to hunt.

Harry was a bit nervous about the letters, but steeled himself, saying, "Alright let's get this over with." Hermione nodded, turning on the light.

They each received two letters, one from Ron, and one from Ginny. They were a bit confused about this, since the two youngest Weasleys knew they were living together. They shrugged it off for now, and opened the letters.

As Harry read the letter from Ron, he started off shocked, but was quickly getting angry. Hermione was having the exact same reaction to the letter from Ginny.

She slammed it down and ripped open the letter from Ron at the same time Harry ripped open the letter from Ginny. They weren't any better, and the teens slammed them done angrily, as well. For a moment, they were too angry to speak.

Hermione was the one to break the silence with, "Those _pricks!_" She screamed. "How _dare_ they?" She ranted, getting up and starting to pace. "Do you know what they think?" She demanded of Harry.

Harry was going to respond that he did, but the bedroom door suddenly slammed open, revealing two slightly panicking adults. "What happened?" Dan demanded. The teens silently handed the adults the letters; Harry gave his letters to Dan, and Hermione gave hers to Emma. They weren't surprised to see the adults' faces turning a bit red, too. They handed the letters back to the people they considered their kids, and Dan said, "Continue," and they walked out. After a quick second, Dan popped back in and said, "And feel free to swear."

"Yes, I do," Harry said darkly, as though they hadn't been interrupted. "Ron thinks you two were getting together and that I somehow stole you from him. He even went so far as to suggest I used potions! And Ginny seems to think we were destined to be together! How? We barely talked until last year, and even that wasn't much!"

Hermione snorted. "Ginny suggested that I used potions on you, as well, complaining that I knew she had a crush on you. Yeah, I did, but you aren't branded with her bloody name! And Ron said he thought I liked him! He said that me fighting with him proved it! Because everyone knows fighting so badly you end up crying means you like someone!"

"What made Ginny think I liked her?" Harry asked. "Hell, what made her think _she_ liked _me_? She didn't! She had a crush on 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'! And I can't believe she had the audacity to suggest you used love potions! I can understand why Ron would think I did, but the thought that you need them is ludicrous! Almost as ludicrous as a relationship between you and Ron! I mean, can you imagine? You guys fight so much, I'd be surprised if you lasted a week!"

He suddenly had Hermione in his arms, kissing him. After a minute, she pulled back and said, "Thank you," before snuggling into his chest.

"What did I do?" He asked with a smile. "I just want to know so I can do it again."

"You said that the idea of me needing a love potion was ludicrous," she said.

Harry scowled. "It is!" He said emphatically. "You're beautiful, smart, loyal, brave, and the kindest person I know! Why would you _ever_ need a love potion?"

Hermione leaned up and kissed him, smiling. "You're probably the only person our age who would call me 'beautiful,' you know."

"I actually don't mind that," Harry said thoughtfully. "It meant I had enough time to figure out how I felt about you before anyone else could figure out how beautiful you are."

Hermione smiled softly, and said, "Do you know how many witches are going to be jealous of me?"

Harry snorted. "Yeah, but they just want the hero who defeated Voldemort. They have no right to be jealous of you for that. However, since they would be jealous if they actually knew you, it doesn't make much difference."

Hermione blushed. "You know just what to say, my knight," she said lovingly, causing Harry to blush.

"I don't know about that," Harry protested, "but I do know I'm probably going to be avoiding those two this year. After these letters, I wouldn't put it past them to be crazy enough to use the potions they accused us of using. We need a way of counteracting stuff like that, or at least knowing about it."

Hermione sighed. "Well, we have a month. For now, let's just go to bed. After all this excitement, I'm beat." Harry agreed, and they were soon snuggling into each other, deeply asleep.


	16. WordlessWandless

_Hermione sighed. "Well, we have a month. For now, let's just go to bed. After all this excitement, I'm beat." Harry agreed, and they were soon snuggling into each other, deeply asleep._

The next morning, after breakfast, the teens didn't play games; they were both too hurt by their friends' inability to accept their relationship, and immediately went to work on the potion. It was a lot more complicated than the polyjuice potion from second year, but the only time restrictions were how long it took the ingredients to interact with each other, and the longest reaction took twelve hours, while the shortest took an hour. Considering there were over 50 ingredients, it was going to take a while. However, since some of the ingredients needed to be added simultaneously, it could be done in about a week.

After a silent lunch, they added the next five ingredients to the potion and studied the book on wandless magic. They were pleased-and disappointed-to find that it didn't go right into wandless magic. First, they went into silent spellcasting. This could be done in two ways; one way was to say the word silently, and the second was to imagine the effect of the spell. They both decided that the second way was better if they got fast enough at it. The reason they decided on this one today was because neither really felt like talking.

So far, they hadn't really had much luck with silent casting; Hermione had only been able to do it twice, and Harry just once. They only worked for an hour before realizing that their minds were wandering too much to actually be able to do anything, so they quit and decided to talk to each other.

"I don't know what to do," Hermione admitted.

"Neither do I," Harry commiserated. "I mean, I don't know Ginny that well, but Ron was supposed to be our friend. I mean, I figured he'd be jealous, but this is more than I expected. I mean, accusing me of using love potions? I feel like my name's come out of the Goblet of Fire all over again."

"I know, Harry," Hermione sighed. "I knew that Ginny still had a crush on you, but I thought she'd at least _try_ to be happy for us. I _never_ thought she'd act like Ron."

"You know what," Harry said determinedly, "forget them! If they can't even _try_ to be happy for us, they obviously aren't very good friends! Plus, we have each other. We weren't worried about them when we _were_ on good terms with them, so I why are we worried about them now?"

Hermione gave a small smile. "I guess you have a point." The smile faded and she sighed. "But I can't seem to get them out of my head."

Harry got a smile. "I could always distract you," he suggested, arching his eyebrow.

Hermione smiled, guessing what he had in mind. "How would you do that, Mr. Potter?" She asked, feigning ignorance.

"Well…" Harry began, "I think I recall doing something at Gringotts…. If only I could remember…" He smirked.

Hermione's grin broadened. "Perhaps I can remind you, my knight," she said, and-ignoring his blush-kissed him. After a few moments, she pulled back and asked, "Was that what you had in mind?"

"Perhaps, but I do remember it lasting a bit longer," Harry responded with a smile, before leaning over for a much deeper, longer, and more passionate kiss that left them both gasping when they finally broke apart. "Wow!" Harry finally said after a few minutes.

"You can say that again," Hermione said in a dazed voice.

Harry chuckled a bit, and said, "Wow!" He stood, and pulled Hermione up with him. "Come on, love, we need to practice! After that, I think we should try the Patronus!" Hermione, still a bit dazed, giggled and agreed.

When they got outside, Harry pictured the silver Patronus in his mind, and _willed_ it into existence imbued with his recent memory. To his surprise, it worked immediately. He just stared at it, a bit stunned; not only had it worked silently, but it was about twice as big as before!

Hermione was also staring, feeling a bit jealous. "Wow, Harry; that must be one happy memory!" She said, hiding her jealousy.

Harry smiled at her. "It is! It's the one I just made!" Hermione smiled sweetly at him, no longer jealous. She focused on the same memory Harry had just used, and watched in amazement as her otter appeared, also twice as large as when she had seen it last.

Before she could say anything to Harry, she found herself floating in the air. She glared at her boyfriend who was silently levitating her, and returned the favor. They were soon at eye level, wondering who was going to give in first, when Harry got a mischievous glint in his eyes and silently summoned Hermione to him. He felt her concentration on levitating him break, and levitated himself-not even thinking about the fact that he had put his wand away so he could kiss his girlfriend. Harry had just unknowingly cast a silent, wandless levitation charm on himself, and was maintaining two spells simultaneously for several minutes while he enjoyed snogging his girlfriend.

After they broke apart, Hermione tried to step to him, and found she could only move her leg. Frowning, she looked down, and gasped to see that they were still floating. She looked at Harry, then back to the ground, and then back to Harry. "How are we still floating?" She asked, looking very confused.

He leaned over to whisper in hear, "Magic." After a moment, he couldn't contain his laughter anymore, and decided to explain to his affronted girlfriend. "I felt your concentration break, and decided to levitate myself so we could enjoy it."

Hermione gasped, and raised her hand to forestall Harry's question. He didn't know how long they'd been up there, but it had been a while. That was very draining, magically. Plus, the heavier the object, the more power it took. She had always known Harry was more powerful than her, but knowing he had maintained the levitation of two teenagers for however long he had been was daunting; she knew it would have been maybe thirty more seconds before she would have had to end the levitation on Harry, and he was holding both of them for much longer than that, and seeming unfazed.

Hermione wasn't the only one thinking; Harry was just realizing that he had cast wandless magic. He thought back to all his cases of accidental magic, and realized that they were all wandless, as well. He tried thinking about what he had done differently, and realized that he hadn't been thinking about how hard it was. He laughed out loud, startling Hermione.

"What is it?" She asked.

He smiled at her, saying, "I did wandless magic to make myself levitate!" His smile broadened at her gasp. "I was thinking about it, and I had an epiphany; if I'm not thinking about how difficult something is, I can succeed at it! The Patronus is a good example; I was told it would be hard, and had difficulty casting it. But once I saw that I had cast a full Patronus, I did again effortlessly!"

Hermione looked at him while he was speaking, first stunned, and then thoughtful. It made sense, actually. Her mum actually had a set of CD's that basically said that what you expect happens; apparently, Harry had proved it!

She grinned up into his smiling face. "I guess I'll have to stop telling you how difficult something is, then!" She thrilled at his laugh, and decided to explore her thoughts with Harry. "Do you feel tired at all, my knight?"

Harry frowned, confused at the question. "Not at all, love, why?"

Hermione just gaped at him; she doubted even Dumbledore had the strength necessary to do this, and if he did, he'd definitely be noticing some type of strain! She wished there was a way to test how powerful he was!

"Love?" Harry interrupted her musings. "What's going on?"

Hermione shook her head to clear it. "I was just wondering how powerful you are," she answered, a bit awed.

Harry's frown deepened. "What do you mean? You're probably just as powerful as me, and Dumbledore could kick my ass."

Hermione shook her head. "Harry, if you hadn't summoned me over here, I was going to have to release the magic holding you soon anyway. And even Dumbledore would probably be exhausted from holding two teenagers in the air for as long as you have been!"

Harry looked shocked. "But I don't feel tired at all!" Harry protested, unable to believe he was stronger than Dumbledore. "Is there any way to test your claim?" He asked.

Hermione bit her lip-stifling a giggle as Harry's eyes zoomed in on it-and shook her head. "Not that I know of. I can prove you're more powerful than me, but I can't prove you're more powerful than Dumbledore."

"Is there any way of knowing what my actual power level is?" Harry asked.

Hermione paused, thinking. After a moment, she slowly nodded. "I _think_ there is. I recall mention of a spell that does that, but I can't remember what it is, or where I saw it. Maybe we can ask Dumbledore."

Harry gave her an incredulous look. "You think he'd agree to help us? After the way his last visit went?"

Hermione nodded. "I think he will. He may have ended up hurting you, but I believe he meant well. I also think he'll want to get back in your good graces."

Harry sighed, acquiescing with a nod. Then he got a stricken look. "How did I forget about Dobby and Winky?"

Hermione started; she'd forgotten about them, too. "Harry, could you put us down now?" She asked. He looked startled at the change of topic, but they started drifting down. Satisfied, Hermione suggested that he call the little elves.

Dobby and Winky appeared simultaneously, bowing, and started in unison, "Master Harry Potter, sir-"

Harry cut them off. "I thought I told you it was just Harry, or, if you have to, Master Harry," he said with a mock glare.

"Yes, Master Harry," they both said, bowing again.

"And please don't bow," Harry added, sounding a little pleading.

"Yes, Master Harry," the both said again, visibly restraining themselves from bowing again. "What cans we do for Master Harry?" They asked, still speaking in unison.

"I wanted to know how you two have been, and I was wondering what you'd been up to," Harry said.

"We are goods, Master Harry," they said. "We has been cleaning Potter Manor."

"Potter Manor?" Harry asked, startled. "I have a manor?" The elves nodded vigorously, also in unison, and Harry was starting to wonder what was going on. "Why are you two doing everything in unison?" Harry asked.

"Wes are bonded, Master Harry," they responded. "Like you and Miss Grangy."

It seemed to be a day for surprises, and Harry started again. "What do you mean, we're bonded?" Harry asked, frowning as he remembered the book _Magical Bonds_ that they had been attracted to.

The little elves glanced at each, seemingly startled as well. "Yous don't know?" They asked. Harry shook his head. "Buts you have book!" They said, clearly confused.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then Harry turned to the elves and said, "We haven't read the book yet."

The elves looked shocked by this. They then shook their heads vigorously, saying, "Is not our place to tell Master Harry of bond."

Harry sighed, knowing he could make them tell him, but unwilling to do so. "Alright, I won't push you guys to tell me. Would you two mind getting the Headmaster for us, please?" He asked. The nodded vigorously, popped away, and popped back moments later with Albus Dumbledore.

"Ah, good evening Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger," he said in greeting. "Lemmon drop?" He shrugged when they shook their heads and popped one into his own mouth. "I understand that you two wish to see me."

Hermione and Harry shared a look and silently understood that Hermione was better at this, so she would be the one to talk. "We were wondering if there was a way to test a wizard's power level," Hermione said, resisting the urge to add 'sir'; she wanted him to work at building bridges, not give him one. "I have reason to believe that Harry might be stronger than you," she added, causing Harry to blush.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I would admit to being rather impressed with that, as most adults have lower power levels than me. But in answer to your question, yes, there is a way to detect power, and to answer your next question, yes, I will say it aloud so you can learn it." He raised his wand and incanted, "_Nomen deprehensio_." A shimmering wall appeared. "If you pass through the wall, 2 numbers shall appear. Your power level will appear on the top, and your recharge rate will appear on the bottom. For your age, the average power level is about 50 magical units-yes, we have units for magical strength-and the recharge rate is about 5 M.U.M.s, or magical units per minute. For adults, it is 70 and 10, respectively."

"What are your power level and recharge rate?" Hermione asked.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I will forego modesty and boast rather proudly that my power level is 132 and my recharge rate is 30." He ignored the looks and said, "Perhaps, we should find where your powers are," he suggested. The teens nodded, and-with another silent communication-Hermione went first, and a number appeared. "Very nice, Ms. Granger, with a power of 83 and a recharge of 16 your magic is very impressive. Mr. Potter, if you would," he said, gesturing to the wall. Everyone just gaped at his numbers, for a little while, before Dumbledore finally regained his senses and said, "Mr. Potter, with 125 as your power level and 7,500 as a recharge rate, you will be more powerful than me when you reach adulthood and you will never have to worry about running low on power."

"That's Harry's magical power times sixty," Hermione said, awed. "He gets his own power every second!" Harry frowned; he didn't _want _a super-power. Seeing Harry's look, Hermione suggested, "Harry, maybe this is the power Voldemort 'knows not'!"

Harry's frown deepened. "I thought it was love," he said to the Headmaster, who just shrugged.

"I don't know Harry. It was the only thing I could make sense of at the time as it's the only thing Voldemort seemed incapable of. It was also your thoughts of love that threw him out of your head, but these numbers are a very persuasive argument to the contrary. If that is all you wished to ask, however, I will be going." With that, Dumbledore summoned a blade of grass, turned it into a portkey, and vanished, leaving the two teens rather dazed.

Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it of awe. "Come on, Harry, let's continue our practice." Harry nodded silently and, armed with his epiphany, was soon floating and summoning things after a few minutes, making Hermione a bit disgruntled.

"Try it without thinking about it, love," Harry suggested when he saw her look. Hearing his pet name for her made her a bit less annoyed, and she nodded. Discarding any preconceived notions about how hard wandless magic was, she thought about the book levitating to her. Nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing. She stopped trying for a moment to relax. She thought about Harry's magic levels a little, and wondered if power level had anything to do with it. Trying to do it absentmindedly, she held out her hand for the book that _would_ float into it. She soon found herself holding it. "I knew you could do it love," Harry said to her with a huge grin. "Just like everything else," he added teasingly, causing her to blush.

"Once is not a guarantee I can do it again, Harry," she said, faking exasperation. Before he could respond, she tried to wandlessly summon Harry to her. Success! "Now it means I can," she said with a mischievous grin before she kissed him.

After the kiss, they decided to have some fun with their wandless powers, rather than duel, since they'd skipped their fun that morning. "Would you care to have a water fight, my knight?" Hermione asked with another grin. Harry's eyes widened in excitement, and Hermione laid down the rules. "Alright, no continuous streams of water, just balls of it about half the size of a quaffle. The first person to be hit ten times loses. No shield spells, but if you can stop the water in another way, go for it." Harry nodded.

When the adult Grangers got home, they found the kids laughing in the backyard throwing waterballs at each other.

**A/N: No, it's not going to be that easy to kill Voldemort. I never mentioned his power levels or recharge rate, now did I?**


	17. Rings and Bonds

_When the adult Grangers got home, they found the kids laughing in the backyard throwing waterballs at each other._

For the rest of the summer, the Weasleys were mostly ignored in the minds of the inhabitants of the Granger household, with only a few niggling reminders every now and again. However, it was only a few days later that Harry remembered someone he needed to contact.

After a delicious dinner of shepherd's pie, Emma had suggested they go outside before watching the movie. "I've always loved the full moon," she said, and Harry missed a step.

"Remus!" He exclaimed, before rushing back into the house and up the stairs.

Emma watched quizzically before she turned to her daughter and asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Not wrong, Mum," Hermione assured her. "You just reminded Harry of a friend of his parents and his godfather. Now he feels bad for not thinking of him."

Now Emma was really puzzled. "What did I say to remind him of this friend?"

"I'll give you a hint, Mum," Hermione said with a smirk. "Full moon."

Before Emma could respond, Dan groaned. "You're telling me werewolves are real?" He asked with a whine. Hermione nodded, and he sighed. "Let me guess, vampires are real, too." Another nod, and another groan.

After a moment's hesitation, they continued outside, deciding Harry could catch up. After seeing Hedwig fly off and a few more minutes of gazing, however, Hermione was getting worried. She got up and headed inside, missing the smiles her parents exchanged.

When she reached the top of the stairs, she saw Harry leaning against the window frame. It was obvious he was gripping it tightly by the white of his knuckles. "Harry?" Hermione asked cautiously. After a moment, he slowly turned towards her, his face an array of emotions she couldn't decipher. "What's wrong, my knight?" She asked, glad to see a little of the tension ease out of him at the pet name.

"I was telling Moony how much I wished we could comfort each other right now, and that I wish Sirius could have been the one to raise me like he was supposed to. After I sent the letter, I had a very uncomfortable thought," he said, falling into a tense silence.

"What was the thought?" Hermione questioned, still cautious.

"If Sirius had raised me, I would have been different," Harry explained. "Knowing Sirius, I would have been a prankster. He would have constantly told me tales about my parents, and I may have even been like Malfoy, all prideful of my parentage," he said scornfully. Then his voice grew softer and he added, "But the worst thought was that I might not have become friends with you. For once, I'm actually finding myself grateful to the Dursleys."

Hermione blinked in surprise. _You will not cry, you will not cry,_ she chanted to herself. However, she couldn't keep her voice from breaking a little when she asked, "You consider what the Dursleys did to you an acceptable price for being with me?"

Harry looked at her in disbelief. "Hermione, if the payment for being with you was living with the Dursleys, I'll accept it and be glad the price was so small!"

For that, more than anything, Harry earned himself a searing kiss. When they broke apart, Hermione asked, "Did you tell Remus about us?"

Harry frowned slightly, confused as to why she would ask. "Of course! I'd like to think of him as a surrogate parent, and that I'm able to tell him whatever's on my mind. Since you're always on my mind, I would have had to have made an Unbreakable Vow to not tell him! Besides, I thought it was fair to tell him that I have someone to help me heal." He visibly brightened. "Hey, maybe he found someone almost as great as you!"

Hermione gave him another searing kiss, but pulled away after only a few moments and said, "I think we should go downstairs, before my dad decides he has to do something."

Harry sighed and scooped her into his arms, smiling at her giggles. As they headed downstairs, he couldn't resist the urge to kiss her on the forehead and whisper, "I love you 'Mione."

Hermione sighed contentedly, murmuring back, "I love you, too, my knight." They were both smiling as they walked into the living room where the adult Grangers were waiting. When Harry saw them, he blushed a little and ducked his head, thereby missing the gentle smiles. Though he was embarrassed, he refused to put her down, and held her throughout the movie, carried her upstairs, and continued to hold her as they both fell asleep.

The next morning-after breakfast, of course-they added the last of the ingredients to the potion. "According to the book," Hermione began, frowning at said object, "these last ingredients need three hours to settle. Should we take it after lunch?" Hermione asked, looking up at her boyfriend. Harry nodded, but he had a thoughtful frown on his face. "What is it?"

"What if," Harry began slowly, "what if the animal we transform into is dangerous?"

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Are there any limitations to the type of animal we could be?" Harry questioned.

Hermione shook her head; she had read the book thoroughly. "No, but magical animals are rare, though they are more likely on wizards with higher power. The size is also equivalent to power." Hermione frowned as her boyfriend grew a bit pale. "What are you worried about, Harry?" She demanded.

"Hermione, I'm magically powerful," he started off. "That means I could be fairly likely to have a large, magical creature as my animagus form. What if parseltongue effects the form as well?" He finished the question quietly.

Hermione's eyes widened in realization; she knew almost nothing about parseltongues, and it was a reasonable assumption to assume that the ability to talk to snakes could manifest itself in his snake form, making it quite probable that if he was a large, magical animal, it would be a basilisk. "Maybe we should wait until we get to Hogwarts," Hermione suggested. "The Chamber of Secrets will be a good place to practice." Harry sighed in relief, knowing that his girlfriend had understood his fears, and nodded in agreement. "I'll bottle the potion and put it in my trunk after lunch."

Harry nodded, and the slowly grinned. Silently and wandlessly conjuring a glove, he threw it at Hermione's feet and said, "I challenge one Hermione Jane Granger to a wandless magical duel!"

Hermione recognized the medieval gesture, and picked it up, thereby accepting the duel. As the challenged, she could choose time and place, and she chose, "Outside, right now." Once they were in position, they bowed, and began. They both knew the rules, there were no curses or hexes that would injure, just simple things such as stunning hexes, tickling charms, and other harmless spells. They practiced the ones that would do actual damage on conjured dummies.

Harry, expecting to win now that he knew about his excess power and recharge rate, confidently cast spell after spell, forcing Hermione to react with no opportunity to react. However, she was still thinking of a way to beat him. It suddenly occurred to her; a switching charm! Seeing a stunner coming for her, she quickly switched herself and Harry, leaving him to be hit by his own stunner.

When Harry woke up, it was to a brown-haired witch laughing hysterically. Harry smiled at her happiness, asking, "How did you beat me? I had you on the ropes!"

Hermione couldn't answer for a minute because she was still laughing; when she finally caught her breath, she said, "It was a simple switching spell! Only one of the two objects needs to be hit by it, you just have to know the exact object you're switching it with."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Is there a way to counter it before you know what's happening?"

Hermione, now fully in academic mode, frowned for a moment, and nodded thoughtfully. "Yes; it involves Runic Magic. You would have to a set of Runes on you that switched the target of a switching spell to something else. The problem is that you have to put those runes on the intended target, as well."

Harry's eyes lit up. "Can you do that for other spells?"

Hermione shook her head. You would need yet another set of Runes on the person casting the spell so that they would aim it at something else. The switching spell isn't aimed in the same way."

Harry's eyes dimmed a little, but he shrugged. "It's still useful. Can you make us both pendants and objects for that?" Hermione nodded and bent down to pick up four rocks; two she transfigured into pendants, and the other two she simply made larger. She then sat down on the grass, took out her wand to focus better, and began using it to carve runes into them.

Harry smiled at his girlfriend, who was oblivious to all else as she worked, and then headed inside; it was time for him to look up the bond that Dobby and Winky had mentioned, and figure out what those rings did.

Soon, he was sitting on Hermione's bed, the aforementioned objects in his hands, and looking torn. It would take a while to read the book, but could be of more immediate; on the other hand, if the rings were useful, they probably wouldn't take as long to figure out. With a sigh, he set aside the book and opened the ring box.

Inside, there were two rings, similar in most ways, but one was slightly thicker than the other. Both looked mostly gold, but there was another band around them that appeared to be silver, or possibly iron. Looking closely, Harry realized that there were symbols carved into them and they looked similar to the ones he had seen Hermione carving. So they did something, but he didn't know what.

He sighed in frustration, and went to go get Hermione to discuss it, but the door burst open and Hermione was already in the room. "Harry, I've done the Runes on these, and-what are those?" She interrupted herself upon noticing the rings in his hands.

"They're rings," he replied with a smirk. Seeing her look, he quickly added, "I found them in my parents vault and thought they might have some type of magical property. They have Runes carved into them and I was just coming to you to see if you could decipher them."

Hermione tossed the pendants on the bed, sighed, held out her hands, and said with authority, "Give them here." Harry didn't even hesitate, and Hermione was soon studying the rings. Harry watched with growing curiosity as her expression went from studious to amazed, and back to studious, though the amazement never left her expression.

"Harry, these rings are legendary," she whispered in an awed tone. "Not like Gryffindor's Sword, which people knew existed and lost track of, these rings have actually been the center of debates in which groups argued over whether they existed or not!"

"Okay…." Harry said. "So what are they, and what do they do?"

"They're called Soul Rings; if one of the people wearing these rings would die, their soul is transferred to the wearer of the other ring!" Hermione explained excitedly. "Harry, do you realize what this means? Other than your mother's sacrifice," she answered her own question with a bit less excitement, "this is the only way to survive the Killing Curse."

Harry sighed, not looking very upbeat at the news, and sat on the bed. "Why weren't my parents wearing them?" He asked in a lost voice.

Hermione lost all academic interest in the rings in concern for her boyfriend. She sat down on the bed next to him and explained softly, "Harry, the rings aren't an instant fix. When your father's soul transferred to your mother, it couldn't instantly get sent back. It takes at least two hours before the body has relaxed enough to reaccept the soul, and your mother would have to be near him. When your mother was killed, if they had been wearing the rings, Voldemort would have killed them both, since their souls had no place to go."

Harry nodded, not happy, but understanding. Suddenly, he lifted his head with a fire in his eyes. "I refuse to be upset over this anymore. Snake-Face has ruined enough of my life, and I'm not going to let him haunt me now, damn it!"

Hermione nodded approvingly, deciding to ignore the language in favor of the message. "Good. Now, what else did you come up here for-don't expect me to believe it was a pair of rings, it wouldn't have taken you that long to realize you needed me to translate!" She smiled at the end of this to take out any sting.

Harry grinned back sheepishly. "I decided I wanted to take a look at the bond Dobby and Winky were talking about." He noticed that Hermione blushed at the mention, and groaned. "You already know what it is, don't you?" Hermione nodded; it was her turn to be sheepish. "Well, what is it?" He prodded.

Her blushed deepened, and she said, "It-it's a Heart Bond." Anxious to get it over with, she babbled, "It's one of only two bonds that either participant enters into without their conscious assent. The other one is the Soul Bond, but since that would have occurred upon our first meeting, it could easily be discounted. Our mind-sharing was part of that, and we'll start feeling each other's emotions. It also means…" She muttered the last bit under her breath, looking down, and Harry noticed that her face was a deep red.

"What?" Harry asked.

Hermione took a deep breath, and-with her face still lowered-said, "It means we're married." After a moment of silence, she peeked up at Harry's face; he looked shocked.

"Damn!" He finally exclaimed. Hermione jumped, and her heart froze in her chest. Harry saw the look on her face for what it was and reassured her, "No, no, I'm not upset about being married to you! I'm just annoyed that I didn't get to ask you!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of release and hugged her powerful, loving boyfriend. She was wondering how she got so lucky when Harry interrupted her musings. "I have two questions: I'll go with the least important first," he smiled when Hermione nodded against his chest without looking up. "The first question is, how did it happen? The second, how do we tell your parents?" Hermione's head shot up at that one.

She groaned, "Why can't things be easy for once?"

"You're dating the 'Boy-Who-Lived,' love," Harry explained with a chuckle.

Ignoring his antics, Hermione explained, "It can only happen between two people who truly love each other," she smiled up at him, "and-like the Soul Bond-it starts upon the first meeting. However, it's a very weak thread and typically forms with several people. The thread strengthens the more time you spend with the people you have formed the first thread with. All other threads break when you complete the bond with someone-by kissing them. After that, the thread grows strong enough to start being noticeable; in our case, that was the mind-sharing."

Hermione smiled up at him again, although this one was more mischievous. "As for the second question, I'll tell my mum, and you tell my dad." She laughed at his horrified expression. "I'm just teasing you, my knight! We'll tell them together." She laughed again at his exaggerated sigh of relief. "Come on, Harry," she said jumping up and pulling him to his feet. "It's lunch time!" He laughed and followed her downstairs.

He wasn't as happy later on that night; he and Hermione were sitting on the couch, waiting for her parents to come home. "Relax, Harry," Hermione whispered as she rubbed his back comfortingly. "I'm sure they won't take it too bad."

Harry was about to retort with a sarcastic comment, but the front door opened, allowing entrance to Dan and Emma Granger, causing Harry to gulp nervously.

As soon as they saw the teens on the couch, the adults were on guard. Seeing their nervousness, Dan immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. "You got my daughter pregnant?" He yelled. They looked at him, completely startled and obviously not expecting that. Dan had always been good at reading people and immediately said, "I'm sorry. You both just look so nervous…." Emma just shook her head at her husband.

She could also see that Hermione was the more composed one. "Hermione, would you care to explain?" She got nervous when Hermione visibly got more nervous and glanced at Harry for strength.

After glancing at Harry, Hermione took a deep breath, steeled herself, and decided to just come out with out. "Mum, Dad," she began, clearly nervous, "in the wizarding world, Harry and I have become bonded. Effectively, it means…we're married."

Dan and Emma just stared at her. What does one say to their daughter who reveals that they're married before they've even turned seventeen? Emma was the one who took initiative and asked, "What's this bond and how'd it happen?" Dan was still looking a bit dazed and just nodded. So-with another deep breath-Hermione once more became the academic and explained everything to her parents, telling them everything she had told Harry.

"So you didn't just sneak off and get married?" Dan clarified.

Hermione looked affronted. "Of course not, Dad! We wouldn't do that to you! In the muggle world, we aren't considered married, just the wizarding world."

The parents both relaxed a bit; they weren't happy, but it wasn't like they could do anything about it. "Harry, we're not going to rip your head off," Emma said. At her words, Harry relaxed-marginally. She just shook her head-he wasn't going to relax for a few days. "I'm going to go make dinner to keep my mind off the fact that my teenage daughter is married," she announced, getting up.

"What am I supposed to do?" Dan whined.

Emma gave a very unlady-like snort. "Figure it out for yourself," she said.

Dan groaned, but suddenly had a glint in his eye that made Harry tense all over again. "Let's talk, Harry," Dan said.

Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she just raised her hands and said, "I think Mum needs help in the kitchen," as she went to her, causing Harry to groan.

"Harry, I believe we've been over this before," Dan said, "But I need to make sure. What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

Harry relaxed-again, marginally-as he had a question he could answer. "Sir, my intent is-first and foremost-to keep Hermione safe. My next concern is her happiness. Honestly, I don't know what else I can do, sir."

Dan smiled at the obvious sincerity. "That's all you can do. Tell me, though, when and how did you find out?"

As Dan grilled Harry about the bond, Hermione was talking to Emma about his reaction. "It was so sweet, Mum! You should have seen him!"

Emma smiled indulgently as she cooked dinner. "What happened, honey?"

"You know how I told you guys about us being married?" She asked her mum. Emma nodded, her lips tightening a little. "He was just as shocked as you were, and probably more upset, too." Hermione saw the look her mother got; the one of anger in her child's defense. "No, Mum, it was for a completely different reason! He was upset that he didn't get to ask me himself!" Emma relaxed at that; what parent doesn't want to hear their child will be well-loved-even if it is earlier than hoped.

Finally, everyone came to grips that there were two married couples, and they had a relaxing dinner followed by _The Notebook_. Although no one was really pleased that Hermione was married and no one had asked her, they were all dealing with it, and they all had a restful night.


	18. The Weasleys

_Finally, everyone came to grips that there were two married couples, and they had a relaxing dinner followed by _The Notebook_. Although no one was really pleased that Hermione was married and no one had asked her, they were all dealing with it, and they all had a restful night._

The next morning, Harry was up first, as usual. This morning, however, he asked Dobby for a quick favor before he began to make breakfast. Thankfully, Dobby's trip for Harry was short and he arrived and departed before the elder Grangers were awake. After he finished simple breakfast of bacon and eggs, he gave the adults two plates, and headed upstairs with a plate for Hermione and himself; the adults were too tired to notice that he seemed nervous.

When Harry entered Hermione's room, he couldn't help but to stop and stare at his girlfriend. Even in his own head, he couldn't quite call her his wife. He hoped this morning would fix that. Taking a breath, he placed the tray of food on the bedside table, leaned over, kissed Hermione on the forehead, and whispered to her rousing form, "Morning, 'Mione."

Hermione smiled up at him, mumbling, "Morning, my knight." She loved waking up to him every day. She kissed him lightly on the lips and looked at the food. "Mmm, bacon and eggs," she said, only a little less sleepy. She frowned a bit when she saw the box on the tray. Leaning over to pick it up, she asked, "What's this?"

Harry smiled, saying, "Open it." Hermione, puzzled, turned back to the box, and opened it, not noticing Harry get down on one knee. He waited until he heard her gasp before saying, "Hermione, I know we're already married magically, but I want to do this right. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and agree to one day becoming Mrs. Potter in the muggle world as well as the magical one?"

Hermione nodded, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she nodded. "Yes. Yes, I will." Harry took the box with the ring, removed it, took Hermione's left hand, and slid it onto her ring finger. Seconds later, he was being crushed by one of Hermione's hugs. "Where did you get the ring from, Harry?" She asked after she pulled back.

"I got it from Dobby," he replied with a smirk. Seeing her raise her eyebrows in warning, he relented. "I had him go to my family vault to find my mother's engagement ring. It took him about five seconds."

After another quick kiss, he pulled out the Soul Rings from his pocket. "Since we're technically married in the wizarding world, I figured we could wear these and say that they're our wedding bands," Harry said. "Of course, that's still how I'm going to think of them," he added with a grin.

Hermione smiled. "I agree, and I probably will think of them that way, too." Harry smiled in response and slid her ring on, handing her his ring, and she slid it onto his finger. At the conclusion, in a time-honored ritual, he kissed the bride.

When he pulled back, his smile quickly turned to a thoughtful frown. Hermione, a bit worried, asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" Harry asked. "Oh, nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if our bond would affect our transformation. Also, as much as I don't want to, I worry about the possibility of love potions; although I hope they wouldn't stoop that low, I need to know if our bond will stop the effects of them or not. Regardless of whether or not it would be the Weasleys, as much as I hate to admit it, girls might do it because of my fame." He sighed in exasperation.

Hermione brushed his cheek in a gently comforting gesture. "Harry you don't have to worry about that," she reassured him. "I'm not sure if our bond would protect us or not, so I have been working on a set of Runes that would detect any potion that would be harmful to our minds, bodies, or souls. Once I have it worked out, I plan on engraving the runes into a set of magical watches; the watches will vibrate at the detection of a potion.

"As for the animagus question," she said hesitatingly, "I believe it would affect the forms; after all, the form is an expression of who we are, and out bond is a part of that. Assuming I am correct, it is very likely that our forms will be similar. So…if you transform into a basilisk, chances are that I will, as well," she said, smiling up at him. He nodded, but he was still frowning thoughtfully. "Now what is it?" Hermione asked, beginning to get a little exasperated.

"I was thinking…" Harry began, "if I am a basilisk, and that makes you a basilisk, would having a snake animagus form make you a parseltongue?"

Hermione looked shocked at first, but then looked thoughtfully hopeful. "It's possible. I think I recall reading that someone speculated that the first person to gain parseltongue was someone to have a basilisk animagus form. Contrary to popular belief, parseltongue was around long before Slytherin. Another author said that that was ludicrous, since no other form passed on something to the child of an animagus. Yet another author believed that it was because the basilisk is the king of snakes," she explained, looking up from her explanation to see Harry laughing.

"When did you look all of this up?" He asked, still laughing.

Hermione blushed a little, and pretended to look affronted at his laughter. "I looked it up second year, when everyone thought you were the Heir of Slytherin."

Harry smiled at that and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for always looking out for me," he whispered into her ear. Picking her up, he asked teasingly, "Now, would you like to eat, my love?" She playfully whacked his arm, and he set her down on the bed. Casting a warming charm on the food, he gently levitated it to them.

As they were eating, Hedwig tapped at the window. "Remus responded!" Harry cried happily, scrambling out of bed to get to the window. After Hedwig delivered the letter, Hedwig flew off again, leaving Harry glad that she could actually fly this summer.

Shaking off his thoughts of the Dursleys, he opened the letter. After quickly scanning it, he beamed at Hermione. "I don't have to worry about Remus anymore," he said to Hermione, who looked puzzled at the remark. "Do you remember Tonks, the metamorphagus who was part of the Order?" He asked. She nodded, and he continued, "Apparently, she and Remus have had feelings for each other, but Remus kept pushing her away because of his lycanthropy. Apparently-and I quote-'she finally got through my thick, stubborn skull'. She's been helping him the same way you've been helping me!" Harry whooped and hugged Hermione. She smiled at his happiness, and continued eating. After taking a few moments to calm down, Harry followed suit.

The two teens spent the rest of the summer together, talking, comforting, and occasionally kissing. Naturally, Hermione soon figured out the runes to place on the watches, and both mastered wandless magic, spell evasion, spell aiming, and possibly Occlumency, though they couldn't be sure since they hadn't practiced legillimency and they didn't have an expert to test them. Harry winced as he remembered Snape's _testing_. The only thing that surprised anyone was when Harry received the badge to become Gryffindor quidditch captain, and Harry was the only one surprised.

All too soon, it was September 1st. Although both kids were looking forward to seeing some of their friends, they were also worried about their old friends. They tried not to think about that as they wished Emma and Dan goodbye. To Harry's surprise, both adults gave him a hug, along with an order to keep Hermione safe. Harry responded with a simple, "Always."

With that, the couple took each other's hands and walked through the boundary, immediately on the lookout for possible attacks. The first thing they noticed was that there was much less noise than usual; everyone on the platform seemed subdued-with the notable exception of many people from Slytherin. The second thing they noticed was that everyone seemed to be in a group that they stuck to.

For once, Harry wasn't receiving stares with pointed fingers and whispers. Everyone seemed to be too afraid to care about the 'Boy-Who-Lived' for the first time Harry could remember since he began at Hogwarts. Although he was glad to avoid the stares, he knew he would have preferred them to having Voldemort back.

He was ripped from his thoughts by a gentle squeeze on his hand from Hermione; he gave her look, and she nodded in understanding. Not really willing to say anything, they both just continued to walk towards the train; their trunks had been shrunk and were in their pockets, Hedwig had flown ahead, and Crookshanks was curled up in Hermione's arm.

It wasn't difficult for the pair to find a compartment, and they immediately chose one near the place where the prefects' meeting was going to be. They quickly decided it would be better to put their robes on now, and-after changing-sat down and talked to each other; they didn't discuss anything important, it was just idle talk. In the middle of their talk, the door to the compartment slammed open, revealing two redheaded figures.

Harry and Hermione didn't even flinch at the entrance of Ron and Ginny; unbeknownst to the Weasleys, Harry had already set up a shield. It was a good thing he had, too, because both came in with drawn wands-Ginny sent her Bat-Bogey hex at Hermione, and Ron tried a typical _incarcerous_ on Harry. Neither of them expected to get hit with their own jinx, and neither of them had time to think on their error as Hermione sent Ginny's hex at Ron and Harry sent Ron's jinx at Ginny-with wands, of course.

"Did you know that Ron could cast the _incarcerous_ hex, love?" Harry asked Hermione calmly.

"No," she responded just as calmly, "he's never been that talented before." Harry smirked at the response, but Hermione wasn't done. "I did figure Ginny would use her Bat-Bogey hex, though; she never was very creative." Harry just laughed at how quickly she had managed to insult both of them.

Turning to the redheads, Harry asked, "What do you two think would be a fair punishment?"

Ron and Ginny were still struggling futilely against their bonds and Ginny's curse and didn't answer. Harry sighed, and waved his wand, cancelling the Bat-Bogey hexes on the two of them. Although they were still struggling against the bonds, Harry asked the question again.

Ginny was the first to answer. "You both took away the people we love and cursed us, haven't we been punished enough for simply trying to curse you?" She demanded angrily.

Harry sighed again. "No, Ginny, you haven't. You claim to love me, but you barely know me. Ron claims to love Hermione, but he shows it by making her cry. The two of you also claimed to be our friends, but tried to hex us. If I let you go, what guarantee do I have that you won't try again?"

"What if we swear we won't?" Ginny asked, a little more calmly. Ron was still angrily fighting with his bonds and grunting inarticulately.

Harry gave her an indecipherable look for a moment. "Will you make an Unbreakable Vow?" He asked.

Ginny and Ron both paled at that, and Ron finally stopped struggling. Brother and sister looked at each other, unsure if they would go that far. Finally, Ginny tentatively asked, "What would we vow?"

Harry shrugged. "You would vow to never harm us or try to come after us."

Ginny felt a wave of relief flow through her; there was a way out. "We can't vow that," she said. "You already pointed out that Ron hurts her all the time by accident, and if you two break up, I would come after you."

Hermione stepped in at this point. "Ginny, we're not going to break up," she said. Raising her hand to forestall a protest, she continued, "We have a bond; I'm sure you know what that means." Ginny sagged at that; she did know what it meant, and she knew she had no chance with Harry Potter.

Ron, however, wasn't so accepting. "What bond is it, then?" He sneered in a way reminiscent of Malfoy.

"It's a Heart Bond," Hermione said. Seeing the scornful disbelief on Ron's face, she raised her wand and said, "I swear on my life and my magic that Harry and I are bonded through a Heart Bond."

Ron looked shocked at first, but it quickly turned to rage and he started struggling again. "You always get what you want, Potter!" He screamed. "You have money and fame, you're-" whatever else he was going to scream was cut off by Hermione's stunner.

"I can accept it," Ginny said in a defeated tone, ignoring her brother for the moment. "I don't like it, but I can accept it. I'll even take the Vow if you change it to hurting you willingly; I don't want to do something that might hurt you by accident and suffer the consequences."

Harry and Hermione shared another glance and another nod. Harry cast a _finite_, releasing Ginny from her bindings, and soon she had made the Unbreakable Vow; none of them were aware of another Unbreakable Vow that had been made earlier that summer.

After making the Vow, Ginny shakily rose to her feet and asked what they were going to do with Ron. Harry's expression turned cold before he responded, "I'm going to do the worst thing possible; I'm going to give him my memories of how I grew up."

Hermione grasped his arm and they shared a mental conversation. _Harry, are you sure?_

_No, but if you can think of anything else to get him to realize he has nothing to be jealous of, I'm all ears,_ Harry replied. Hermione just sighed and nodded reluctantly, releasing his arm.

Harry took his wand and placed it to his temple as he had seen Dumbledore do; once it was there, he relived everything he had experienced at the Dursleys. Pulling his wand away slowly, there was a thick strand of some silvery substance that came with it. He walked over to Ron and placed the strand against his temple, watching as it slowly seeped in. When he was done, Hermione unbound him and sat him up; after the reaction of her mother, she didn't want him asphyxiating on his own vomit, despite his recent actions.

They weren't waiting long before Ron started to twitch and came awake with a horrified scream, vomiting all over his own lap. Ginny paled at such a powerful reaction, not sure she would be able to deal with Harry's baggage anymore.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked in a scratchy voice, still looking green, and more than a little scared.

"That was my life, Ron," Harry said calmly. "Still jealous?" He asked scathingly. Ron quickly shook his head, ashamed about his previous assumptions now; he had seen the bars on Harry's window in second year, but he hadn't thought to apply it further.

"I'm sorry, mate," Ron said quietly. "Can you forgive me?"

Harry seemed to consider it. "Perhaps," he finally said. "But it won't be soon, and you'll need to prove you mean it." Ron nodded, understanding, and looked down sadly.

Seeing the mess in his lap, he asked, "Can someone help me get this off?" Hermione did a silent _scourgify_, and Ron looked a bit surprised, but didn't say anything other than, "Thanks," before he and Ginny wisely left.

The couple had just sat down again when the door opened-more gently, this time-to reveal Luna Loovegood and Neville Longbottom. To Harry's surprise-but not Hermione's-they were holding hands. They both also noted that Luna had lost her dreamy look.

"Hello Harry, Hermione," Luna said; despite losing her dreamy look, her voice still held that quality. "I see you've finally figured it out," she continued, taking in Hermione's seat on Harry's lap.

Harry smirked, replying, "Yes, much like you and Neville did, it would seem."

"Oh, no," she replied airily as she sat on Neville's lap, "we don't have a bond." Harry and Hermione just stared at her; they had only told Hermione's parents and Ron and Ginny a few moments ago.

"How do you know about our bond?" Hermione asked.

"I can see it," Luna replied simply. "Did you know that his possibilities were you, Ginny, and me?" She asked.

Hermione blinked. "Really?" She asked. "I didn't know it was possible to detect a bond at that stage," she said.

Luna got a sad look, saying, "There's no spell to detect it, but Seers can see it."

"You're a seer?" Hermione asked, startled.

Luna nodded. "It gets in the way of making friends, which is why I never mention it. Also, the closer I get to people, the more I'm forced to see. That's why I make those creatures up, to keep people away."

"So what changed?" Harry asked.

"I learned Occlumency, like you guys," she replied. "It keeps the visions from overwhelming me. I also saw that you wouldn't reject me for it, which is why I told you guys and Neville," she turned to kiss said boy.

All of a sudden, Harry started laughing. "Trelawney would give her left arm to be you!" He exclaimed between laughs. Hermione smiled at his antics, and would have agreed, but the door opened to let Hermione know the prefect meeting was starting.

When Hermione came back, she did _not_ look happy. "Malfoy and Ron are both prefects," she said without preamble.

Harry just snorted. "Malfoy bought his way in, and Ron got his because he was my friend," he said dismissively. Hermione nodded the truth of that, and the four in the compartment chatted amiably about whether they should continue the DA or not.


	19. Hogwarts

_Harry just snorted. "Malfoy bought his way in, and Ron got his because he was my friend," he said dismissively. Hermione nodded the truth of that, and the four in the compartment chatted amiably about whether they should continue the DA or not._

They arrived at Hogwarts without having an encounter with Malfoy, to everyone's surprise. In fact, the worst aspect was that all four of them could see the thestrals, which reminded them all of Sirius, leading to a quiet carriage ride up to the castle.

Once they made it to the Great Hall, they found themselves in the unique situation of eating without Ron; it was the first time Harry or Hermione had eaten without him. In spite of the possibility of becoming friends gain, it reminded Harry and Hermione keenly of the recent betrayal and they barely paid attention to their surroundings. Fortunately, Neville and Luna were aware of this and watched out for them.

Neither of the two gave the sorting any attention, instead whispering small comforts to each other in their minds. They didn't even notice that the food appeared on the table until Neville gently reached across the table and shook Harry. Luna probably would have done the same to Hermione, but she was at the Ravenclaw table.

That didn't stop her from watching worriedly as Harry and Hermione ate mechanically, with lost expressions. She was grateful to Neville for getting them to at least eat, but she was worried about how they were going to take Dumbledore's news/question; after all she could only see possibilities, and there were many for this.

Her fears came to naught, however, as Dumbledore approached them at the end of the feast. "Ah, Harry my boy," he said cheerfully, "would you and Hermione mind having a chat with me?"

Harry glanced at Hermione who was looking dejected, before turning back to the Headmaster and giving a slight nod. Dumbledore pretended not to notice how sad they looked, and found himself desperately hoping this would cheer them up as he led them to the same room Harry had been in two years before when he was told he had to enter the Tournament.

Leaving his thoughts, he turned back to the teens with twinkling eyes, beginning, "I think we need to discuss arrangements for the year, Mr. and Mrs. Potter." He laughed gently at their surprised looks. "There is a book recording every magical birth, is it really a surprise to find there is one on Bonds?" He asked, amused. Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "Now, you may not be aware of this, but there is a charter for married couples in the school; after all, separating a Bonded pair is foolish, and what with the gender restrictions in the general dorms, it wouldn't be allowed."

"Where are these accommodations, sir?" Hermione asked, her curiosity fully aroused. "There's no mention of them in _Hogwarts, A History_."

"It is on the fifth floor, directly across from the prefects' bathroom," Dumbledore replied. "It is guarded by a portrait of Richard Rahl," he added. "You can set the password to anything you would like. Have a nice night," he finished, walking away swiftly.

Harry and Hermione shared a glance at his abrupt departure, but shrugged it off. Turning to leave, Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder, and Hermione wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder. Fortunately, they didn't pass anyone, and soon stood before the portrait, who smiled at them.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," it said cheerfully. "The Headmaster told me you would be coming. Any ideas for the password?"

Harry glanced to Hermione, who nodded, knowing what was in his mind. "Sirius," Harry said clearly, ruthlessly quashing any sadness. He smiled gratefully at Hermione, who had squeezed his waist tighter in a gesture of comfort.

The portrait of Richard decided not to ask, and quietly swung open to let them in. The couple walked in, _engorgio_ed their trunks, changed, and crawled into bed gratefully; neither wanted to think about the rest of the year with an estranged friendship. They were soon in the first restless sleep since they had started sleeping together.

The next morning, they woke still feeling tired and full of foreboding-though neither knew why. They reluctantly got up, showered, dressed, and headed down to the Great Hall. It wasn't until they got there that they realized they had no idea who the new Defense teacher was. They decided to ask McGonagall when she gave them their timetables after breakfast.

As they unenthusiastically picked at their breakfast, it occurred to Hermione to wonder just what they were feeling bad about. It wasn't as though they hadn't expected this. If anything, it had gone better than they had hoped; Ginny was definitely backing off, and Ron seemed to be much less jealous. They had been worried about it possibly taking weeks or even months to get to this point! Realizing that things could have gone that way, she felt much better, and pushed her realization to Harry, who seemed to brighten at the thought she sent his way.

Grateful for the positive outlook, Harry turned to Hermione to give her a swift smile and a squeeze of her hand, which he didn't think he'd let go of since they were both dressed. He was about to thank her aloud when McGonagall walked over with their timetables and a smile that was unusual on the usually stern face of the Deputy Headmistress.

"Hello Harry, Hermione," she greeted them, not seeming to notice Harry's slight frown. "Here are your timetables, and I look forward to having you in my class," she said in a more businesslike fashion, beginning to turn away.

"Professor," Hermione began before McGonagall could completely depart, "who is the new Defense Professor?"

McGonagall seemed a bit puzzled at the question. "Ms. Granger, weren't you paying attention at the Welcoming Feast?" She asked in her usual stern manner, sighing when Hermione shook her head. "Professor Slughorn took over teaching Potions, so I'm sure you can work out who is teaching Defense," she said gently before walking away.

Harry and Hermione were both unsure which baffled them more-McGonagall's quick changes in mood, or the news that Snape was teaching Defense. Hermione was the first to realize the possibilities of a new Potions teacher, and chased after McGonagall, dragging Harry with her. "Professor," she called again. Not wanting to embarrass Harry, she waited until they were close enough not to be overheard before continuing. "Would Professor Slughorn be willing to accept a student with Exceeds Expectations?" She asked quietly.

McGonagall looked to Harry, since she knew he was the one Hermione was asking for. Upon seeing his hopeful look, she replied, "Indeed, Miss-Mrs. Potter, but Harry still needs the required text."

Now Harry jumped in, saying, "I have the book, Professor, Hermione was going to tutor me." McGonagall simply nodded to her favorite students before magically altering Harry's timetable to include Potions, and then walking away to continue handing out the timetables.

Hermione took a moment to hug him in excitement before confronting him about his earlier frown. "Harry, why did you frown when McGonagall said nothing but 'hello' to us?"

Harry frowned slightly again at the reminder. "Because," he replied, "everyone who greets when we're together-which I hope is almost always, by the way-greets me first. It just seems backward to me," he confessed, blushing slightly.

Hermione just beamed, enjoying his reply. "I don't care about anyone else's opinion, I just want yours," she felt the need to reply.

Harry wrapped his arms tightly around her, saying, "Well, it's a good thing I'll always put you first, then." Releasing Hermione's body from the hug, he quickly reclaimed her hand and got down to schoolwork. "So, shall we examine our timetables?"

Hermione nodded, pressing herself close to Harry so she could enjoy his presence more. She waved her wand to summon their timetables, and began studying it. She stifled a chuckle at Harry's groan. "We have Double Potions and Double Defense today," he grumbled. "And we have to get separated for Divination and Arithmancy! Double of a class I hate, Double of a teacher who hates me for my father, and being separated from you," he said, ticking them off. "I hope whoever made this schedule is having a good laugh, 'cause I'm going to kick their a-butt," he hastily amended at the look on Hermione's face.

Thinking quickly, he gave a bow, asking with a smile, "May I escort you to the dungeon, milady?"

Hermione clamped down on her amusement and retorted, "What kind of girl do you think I am?" Harry just raised his eyebrow, receiving a playful smack on the arm for his sense of humor. He wasn't complaining, though, because soon after, Hermione grabbed that arm and leaned against him; with a pretty girl leaning on him, he had no reason to complain.

The rest of the day wasn't as bad as he had expected; he found he actually liked Potions when the teacher wasn't Snape, and in Defense Harry was already confident enough in his abilities that Snape couldn't even say anything about them. The worst part of the day was Divination; he still sat at the table with Ron, (which was awkward) and he was separated from Hermione. Hermione only had to deal with the separation. To the surprise of them both, they had a lot more difficulty with it than they had anticipated. They both rushed from their class when it was over, eager to see each other.

As soon as they sighted each other, they hugged, both breathing a sigh of relief; neither knew what they were so worried about, but there was no denying that they were both very nervous when the other wasn't near them. While they were hugging, Harry whispered in Hermione's ear, "Should we go to the Chamber to get it out of the way quickly?" Hermione nodded against his chest, causing Harry to smile. Gently-and reluctantly-pulling away, he grabbed her hand and headed to a familiar bathroom.

When they finally reached the room with the dead basilisk, Hermione gasped and clutched Harry tightly. Harry was focusing on the possible transformation, and barely registered it. Although he was still nervous, when Hermione had told him that the stare only worked on humans and spiders he had relaxed much more.

Absentmindedly, Harry took the bottle from Hermione, raised it, said, "Cheers," and gulped it down.

**A/N: What do people want their transformations to be?**


	20. Serpents and Souls

**A/N: I've found recently that a lot of people dislike the amount that Harry cried and Dan's seeming change of heart so I decided to explain them. First off, Harry is not, nor will he ever be, someone who constantly cries. However, he had recently relived his life and Hermione's, subsequently receiving her memories. Can anyone imagine the upheaval that would cause in him? Secondly, while it is true that Dan didn't mind that he was going to have Harry as his son-in-law, he didn't want it for at least a few more years. When he saw them on the couch together, he thought it was moving way too fast. I apologize for the confusion.**

**I'm also looking for a beta reader, since I don't currently have one.**

_Absentmindedly, Harry took the bottle from Hermione, raised it, said, "Cheers," and gulped it down._

Hermione also raised her bottle and tilted it back. The next thing either of the teens knew, pain was ripping through their body; it is not an easy process to change almost every aspect of your physical being-the change in skeletal structure alone would be enough to put anyone in tears. Unfortunately for the teens, it wasn't just skeletal reconfiguration, and they were both in so much pain there was no sound, and their eyes were tightly closed.

A few moments later, they were human again. "At least we know we have forms," Hermione groaned weakly from her prone position. Harry just grunted in response. "I wonder what they are, though," she mused thoughtfully. Harry was just amazed she could be in this much pain and still think; he had no idea that he had instinctively taken as much of her pain as he could onto himself.

Hermione snapped from her reverie when she finally felt Harry's pain being broadcast through their bond. Gasping as she realized what he had done, she exclaimed, "Harry! Why would you do that?"

She felt a sudden wave of confusion and worry at her question as he asked nervously, "Do what?"

"Why would you take my pain?" She asked impatiently.

She felt him start across the link before he settled into an odd feeling of pleasure. "Well, I didn't do it on purpose," Harry replied, "I didn't even know I could." Hermione relaxed a little, and Harry continued, "If I had known, I would have taken more."

Hermione shook her head and tried to take the pain back, only to find that Harry's was diminishing at a great rate and taking hers, too. Harry felt her concern as she asked, "Harry, what are you doing?"

Hermione felt his mischievousness as he replied, "If I took your pain, I can send it. With our connection, Voldemort's probably not feeling too good right now," he smirked, getting off the ground; Hermione laid there for a minute, shocked-and pleased-by her boyfriend's novel idea. Harry helped her up, but they were quickly back on the ground as Hermione tackled him and gave him a searing kiss-he had not only gotten rid of their pain, but hurt Voldemort at the same time.

After a few enjoyable moments, Hermione broke the kiss, gasping. After another few moments where the two caught their breath, Hermione wondered aloud, "I wonder how we discover our forms. I know we only have to take the potion for the first time, but how do we change when we don't know what we are."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. What did the book say?"

Hermione blushed a little. "I don't know, I haven't read past the potion and the forced transformation," she admitted.

Harry gave a gasp of mock surprise. "Hermione Granger didn't read everything she possibly could?" He teased, receiving a playful smack on the arm for his jibe. Rather than complain, though, he just grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards the entrance.

However, they quickly realized they had a problem when they reached the tube-how were they supposed to go up? Hermione groaned, and Harry felt a wave of realization flow over him as she said, "Why didn't I realize it before? Flight of Death would never slide down a smelly, dirty, tube!" She exclaimed.

"Er…Flight of Death?" Harry asked, confused.

Hermione, feeling his confusion, responded, "Voldemort. If you break it up, Vol is flight, de is of or from, and Mort is death." She paused for a moment, before saying, "I suppose it could be Flight from Death, as your memory of his memory showed an utter terror when you stabbed the diary."

Harry just shrugged again, asking, "Okay, but how do we get up?"

Hermione snapped back to focus (although she flushed a little), and shared her revelation. "It occurred to me that Riddle thought too highly of himself to slide down a disgusting tube, plus he would have to get back up. The best explanation would be stairs! Try saying stairs in Parseltongue, Harry!" She encouraged excitedly.

Unable to find a flaw in her logic, he turned to do as she said. _Stairs,_ he hissed at the tube. He felt another wave of realization flow across the bond, but he almost fainted when he realized it was accompanied by arousal! Turning to give his girlfriend-_wife_, he mentally corrected-a puzzled look, he ended up with his jaw on the floor.

Hermione-hearing him hiss-realized just how talented his tongue was, and really wanted to put it to use that was less than academic. She was licking her lips as Harry turned to face her, and really effect she had on him. Before he could say anything, she pounced on him, giving him a searing kiss; neither noticed that Harry's Parseltongue had formed stairs.

Harry was in the middle of a wonderful kiss with Hermione when he suddenly felt her lips part, and something push at his. Startled, he allowed her tongue entrance, thinking, _What the bloody hell is going on? This is great, but it doesn't seem like Hermione._ His brain, however, was not in complete control, and he didn't pull apart until the two of them heard a sound that Harry remembered all too well from second year; the sound of a slithering snake.

Hermione seemed aware of it, too, as fear replaced her other emotions. "H-Harry," she stuttered, "w-what g-gender was the b-basilisk?"

Harry-all too used to these situations-replied calmly, "I have no idea." Concentrating, he hissed, _Who is there?_ He noticed that Hermione's arousal returned, and shook his head, wondering just what was going on.

He pushed the thought out of his head as he heard a reply. _Who speaks?_ A hissing voice demanded.

Slightly amused, he replied, _I asked you first,_ exactly the way a child would.

_I am Serpenta, the last Queen of Serpents,_ the voice replied. Harry thought he caught a hint of fear, and some feminineness as well. _Now answer me,_ the voice demanded with false bravado.

Seeing no reason not to, Harry replied, _My name is Harry Potter. How old are you?_ He asked gently; he was pretty sure it was young, since an older one would have come out of the darkness due to its immense size.

The gentleness of the question seemed to throw the serpent off balance, and it replied, _My mother said I was seven before she died, so I guess I'm ten._

Harry winced in guilt; the basilisk may have been trying to kill him, but he knew what it was like to lose parents at a young age. Hermione, of course, wouldn't allow this, and pushed her feelings of love at him. Feeling a little better, he sent back a wave of gratitude.

_Harry, don't worry about her eyes killing you,_ Hermione said through the bond; she had been listening in through Harry. _They become lethal at the age of 25, so you're safe._

Harry shot her a look of disbelief. _And how exactly would they test that, Hermione?_ He asked his wife, who blushed and didn't reply. Turning back to the darkness where he believed Serpenta was, he hissed, _Serpenta, if you close your eyes and come out, we promise not to hurt you._

_Why do I have to close my eyes?_ Serpenta asked.

_Your eyesight can kill with a glance,_ Harry replied, not entirely sure he should be telling her. However, she sounded like a frightened child and he couldn't help but empathize. _And I want to be your friend,_ Harry added, ignoring Hermione's start. _It would be difficult if I was dead._

There was pause, and when Serpenta replied, she sounded a little shocked. _You want to be my friend?_

Harry's heart broke for the longing he heard; he knew many people considered basilisks to be Dark, but none of them had heard the longing in this one's voice for a friend. _Yes,_ he replied. _I never used to have any friends, and I always enjoy making a new one._

_I'll be your friend,_ Serpenta hissed happily. _And I'll keep my eyes closed, too,_ she added determinedly.

Harry and Hermione heard the slithering sound again at the end of her declaration, and soon saw a head Harry immediately recognized as belonging to a basilisk, but much smaller. As Serpent fully came out of the darkness, they realized she was very small-only five feet long. Harry supposed they simply never stopped growing. Thankfully, Serpenta had kept her eyes closed.

Harry-seeing the small size of the snake-instinctively got down on his knees and put out his hand; it looked like he wanted to pet the snake. Instead, Hermione felt a building of his magic, and a small, grey beam shot from his hand to the baby basilisk. A few moments later, it was over, and both participants sank to the ground.

"_Harry!_" Hermione screamed aloud and through the bond, trying to lift him back up. To her surprise, Harry lifted himself back up, shaking himself and looking tired, but he was doing okay. "What did you do?" She asked him.

Harry smiled and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. There was another beam of light between the two of them (green this time), and Harry again felt weak for a moment. Regaining his strength, he replied, "I took a look at the power of the basilisks eyes, took your knowledge of arithmancy, and made us immune."

Hermione just gaped at him. After about five seconds where she just kept running 'made us immune' through her head, she managed to ask, "How?"

Harry smirked and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before replying, "We practiced wandless magic by visualizing what we wanted it to do; so I got it to give me what I needed." He started to turn away, but turned back and said, "And you were wrong, the Basilisk's eyes harm everything except another basilisk, and they're deadly right away." Turning away from Hermione's shocked expression and back to Serpenta, he hissed gently, _You can open your eyes now._

_Are you sure?_ Serpenta asked hesitantly. _I don't want to hurt my new friend,_ she said pleadingly.

Harry chuckled softly, responding, _Yes, I'm sure._ He watched as Serpenta carefully opened her eyes before starting introductions. _Serpenta, this is Hermione. She is my wife, and can understand what we're saying, but she can't speak. She wants to be your friend, too._

Serpenta turned to Hermione with wide eyes, making Harry glad he had performed those spells. _Really?_ Serpenta hissed to Hermione. _You want to be my friend?_ Hermione, listening through Harry but unable to respond, nodded. Serpenta wriggled herself around, making the two teens laugh at the serpentine version of a happy dance.

While settling down, Harry had a thought; if he could find the magic of the basillisk's stare, could he find the magic of parseltongue and give it to Hermione? Focusing on himself, he was enveloped in a grey cloud, but he was not pleased with what he found.

"_What?_" He growled out in rage.

Hermione jumped, startled by the pure anger in his voice. "Harry?" She asked hesitantly. "What is it?"

Harry didn't even hear her. He was busy contemplating what this meant. His scar appeared to be a piece of Voldemort, and that's where he got his original parseltongue ability from. Now it was part of him, but that wasn't what bothered him; if he had a piece of Voldemort in him, was he the reason that Voldemort didn't die? Did he keep him anchored to earth?

Then he remembered the diary-how it said it was draining the life force from Ginny to gain form. Was his scar the same thing? If it was, why hadn't it done that to him? Was this the connection he had with Voldemort? If it was, would he-like the diary-have to be destroyed?

Hermione wasn't liking this; Harry had blocked off their connection, but she could see from his expression that he was angry, sad, and feeling alone, just like he had been at the beginning of the summer. "Harry!" She yelled at him, very worried.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he shook himself, but it was short lived; he extricated himself from her muttering, "I have to go." He barely noticed that the stairs had formed, he only paused long enough to give Hermione parseltongue; just because he was now alone again didn't mean Serpenta had to be. After a whispered, "You can speak parseltongue, now," to Hermione, he hurried up the stairs.

Hermione sat there for a moment, stunned, hurt and trying not to cry. She shook her head to clear it, hissed, _We'll see you later_, to Serpenta, and raced after the man she loved. Fortunately, the stairs still had all the slime that the slide had, and Harry hadn't bothered to _scourgify_ himself, making a clear trail of slime for Hermione to follow.

She soon realized he was heading towards the Headmaster's office and picked up the pace, no longer needing to follow the trail. She caught up to him and watched him blast aside the gargoyle that wouldn't open without the password. "Harry!" She screamed. She watched him hesitate for a minute, but he continued up the stairs anyway. Giving a small scream of frustration, she chased after him. When she saw the gargoyle start to reform itself, she didn't even hesitate to blast it aside so she could continue her chase.

When she got to the top of the stairs, she realized she was a bit late; Harry was already screaming at Dumbledore as everything in his office was flying around. Even Fawkes looked scared.

"-didn't you tell me?" Harry was screaming. "What else have you kept from me?"

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Hermione shouted over all the noise he was making. At the sound of her voice, Harry's muscles tensed and everything in the room froze, much like the Cornish Pixies from second year.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, answering, "He's talking about his scar, and the diary. He's talking about his connection to Voldemort. He's talking about Horcruxes. He's talking about the fact that he must die before Voldemort can."

Hermione was shocked for a moment. "What is a Horcrux, and why does it mean Harry must die?" She asked icily.

Dumbledore sighed, looking every bit of his 150-odd years. "A Horcrux is a piece of someone's soul, separated to keep that person anchored to earth. Harry's scar is one of Voldemort's."

"And why can't we just remove it?" Hermione asked impatiently.

Dumbledore shrugged helplessly. "I don't know any spells to do that."

Hermione snorted. "Do you know any spells to make someone immune to a basilisk's gaze?" Dumbledore frowned, shaking his head. "Well Harry did that, so what makes you think he can't move a Horcrux? And why hasn't that Horcrux tried to take him over?"

"He did that?" Dumbledore asked, clearly startled. Hermione nodded, still looking very angry. "Then I suppose it is possible," Dumbledore conceded. "After all, moving a Horcrux from one object to another shouldn't be too different from moving it from the entire soul to the original object." He frowned thoughtfully. "Harry, do you mind if I examine your scar?"

Harry nodded cautiously, but his hold on the link was weakening, and Hermione could now tell that he was afraid to hope. Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry's scar, and Hermione carefully watched as his expression went from shock, to disbelief, to glee. "I have some very good news for you, Harry," Dumbledore said. "What you sensed was not a Horcrux, but the residual energy of one."

Everything in Dumbledore's office came crashing down. "What?" Harry whispered. "How?"

"Well, I don't know exactly," Dumbledore said. Upon seeing Hermione's venomous look, he quickly continued, "But I would theorize that Voldemort accidentally removed it when he tried to possess you. It's possible that the Horcrux reconnected with him before you threw him out."

"How many Horcruxes does Voldemort have?" Hermione asked, clearly not feeling better.

"I don't know," Dumbledore admitted. Seeing that Hermione was about to explode again (_Man that girl is scary,_ Dumbledore thought), he continued, "Slughorn knows, but he won't tell me." He paused, clearly hesitant. "Ms. Granger-"

"It's Mrs. Potter," she interrupted angrily.

Dumbledore gulped. _How can a fifteen-year-old witch be so scary?_ He asked himself. "Mrs. Potter," he continued, "I understand you recently gained a vial of Felix Felicis for an excellently brewed Draught of Death. Perhaps you could use that to try and gain the memory from Slughorn."

Hermione snorted. "Why would we use that for something as simple as a memory when we could use it to kill Voldemort?" She asked.

Dumbledore looked startled. "I never considered using it for something like that," he admitted sheepishly. He looked thoughtful for a minute, but then laughed heartily. "Luck!" He exclaimed. "Luck is the power he knows not!"

"So how do we get the memory from Slughorn?" Hermione angrily interrupted his laughter.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, replying, "Alas, I do not know. I only know that he won't tell me, however, he might tell you, Harry."

"Me?" Harry asked, clearly startled. Hermione had the distinct impression that he was still trying to adjust to the idea that he did _not_ have to die.

"Yes, you, Harry," Dumbledore said. "You see, much like Voldemort, Slughorn is a collector. But where Voldemort collects items, Slughorn collects people. You, The-Boy-Who-Lived, who has battled Voldemort 5 times, would be his crowning jewel. I know you don't like the attention, but we must know this information," Dumbledore said, sounding almost pleading.

Harry nodded unhappily, and-trying to change the subject-asked, "What happened to your hand, sir?"

Hermione looked in shock at his hands and noticed for the first time that the right one looked blackened and burnt. Dumbledore sighed, responding, "I injured it in the hunt for another Horcrux. Although it was not exactly desired, I consider it a fair trade for the destruction of that Horcrux."

"So that's three out of however many Voldemort tried to make," Hermione said thoughtfully, though she was still looking angry.

Dumbledore sighed yet again, saying, "Alas, I fear it is not so. I believe that the one from Harry's scar was an accident, so those were only two of his intended Horcruxes. The good news is, I believe I know another three and-"

"Three?" Hermione exclaimed. "How long have you suspected these Horcruxes existed?"

Dumbledore squirmed uncomfortably. "Umm…a few years or so…."

"A FEW YEARS?" Hermione screeched. "YOU KNEW THE PROPHECY MEANT ONLY HARRY COULD DEFEAT HIM, AND YOU KNEW ABOUT THESE HORCRUXES, BUT YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM? WHY THE BLOODY HELL NOT?" She demanded.

"I-I thought he should enjoy his childhood," Dumbledore said.

"ENJOY HIS CHILDHOOD?" Hermione screamed. "DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIS CHILDHOOD? HE HATED IT!"

Dumbledore wisely decided not to answer this time, and Harry moved to calm her down. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO CALM ME DOWN!" She slapped him, and a look of shock and betrayal came over his face. Hermione's eyes widened when she realized what she'd done. "Harry, I'm sorry, but you should have talked to me," she said.

Harry's conscience reasserted itself; she was right, he should have talked to her. "I'm sorry, too. I should have talked to you. But I thought I had to die. How was I supposed to handle knowing I had to die rather than be with you?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, reminding both teens of his presence. They blushed and looked down, but they both seemed to be smiling. "You may go Mr. and Mrs. Potter," he told them with twinkling eyes and a smile; he would ask them about the basilisk situation later.

"Thank you, sir," they said in unison, before grabbing each other's hand and leaving the room.

"Should we bring Serpenta to our room?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear as they headed down the stairs.

Hermione thought about for a moment, and then shook her head. "No, we can't feed her, and there's Hedwig and Crookshanks to consider."

Harry frowned. "Good point. I hadn't thought about them," he admitted. "We'll have to visit her tomorrow, though, and read the rest of that book."

Hermione nodded as they reached their room. As they got into bed, she whispered to him, "I'm glad you don't have to die."

Harry gave a quiet laugh, replying, "I'm glad our fight was so short." He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. Pulling back, he whispered, "Goodnight, 'Mione."

She snuggled into his chest and whispered back, "Goodnight, my knight." She fell asleep to the sound of Harry chuckling softly.

**A/N: No, Hermione is not going to be extremely sexual, but there is a reason for it, see if you can guess. Sorry this took so long, I had a major case of writer's block.**


	21. Talks and Changes

_She snuggled into his chest and whispered back, "Goodnight, my knight." She fell asleep to the sound of Harry chuckling softly._

The next morning, they found that they actually had a day off. Harry enjoyed the fact that having Friday as a free day meant a three day weekend. He looked over to Hermione, who was completely absorbed in the Animagus book. Every once in a while, she would brush her hair behind her ear or bite her lip, and Harry enjoyed the opportunity to simply gaze at her.

Suddenly, something odd about yesterday occurred to him. If it was only a residual of the Horcrux that his scar used to be, how had he managed to send the pain to Voldemort? Was it possible that-like the parseltongue ability-the connection had simply become a part of him? Or did the residual magic keep the connection alive?

He practically jumped out of his skin when Hermione leaned against him. "I finished the book," she whispered into his ear. Harry noticed that her voice seemed rather husky.

Frowning, he turned to her. _What is going on?_ He thought. "Are you okay, Hermione?" He asked her out loud.

She looked startled at the question. "Yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "Why?"

"You're acting different," he said. "Whenever I spoke parseltongue-and at other random moments-you seem like you want to jump me. I wouldn't really mind, but it just doesn't seem like you," he explained to her.

She frowned at him, seeming puzzled, but after a moment, her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and realization. "Oh," she said simply before grabbing at the Animagus book. Skimming through it quickly, she stopped at a page and read aloud, "'After the first transformation, the new animagus will act more on their animal instincts. This means that the flight-or-fight impulse will lean drastically towards one, they may be more possessive or territorial, and often become more sexual towards their partners.'"

Harry frowned thoughtfully for a moment. It made sense, but…. "Why am I not affected as much as you are?" He asked Hermione.

Hermione barely paused to think before replying, "Probably because of Voldemort." Seeing her boyfriend's-_husband's_ she mentally corrected-puzzled look, she explained, "His emotions used to affect you, much the same way that your inner animal is supposed to. Because you got used to his effect on you, you learned to counter it and-because they're so similar-the affect you form would have on you."

Harry's frown didn't ease, though. "Doesn't that mean our Occlumency training should help us?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Occlumency is meant to keep people out of our head, but our inner animal is inside our head; only our own willpower can prevent something like that."

Harry got a look of outrage on his face. "Does that mean that Occlumency wouldn't have done anything for the visions Voldemort was sending me?" He asked angrily.

Hermione shook her head again. "No. From what I understand, our inner animal is a part of us from birth, but the potion unlocks it. The Horcrux that was your scar was not originally a part of you, so Occlumency would still have worked. The difference is that it would have been much harder to defend against."

Harry considered that for a minute. Shrugging, he said, "At least it's gone now." Standing, he pulled Hermione up with him, and asked in parseltongue, _Shall we go visit our hissing friend? _Hermione's eyes once more got that glazed look of arousal, but this time she was aware of it, and it dissipated before she could do anything she would regret when she wasn't high on hormones.

Before Harry could ask again, she nodded and started dragging him towards the door. Harry stopped her and scooped her up into his arms, loving the way she giggled. He knew he could hold her for quite a while; he may be scrawny, but thanks to the Dursleys it was almost all muscle. He winced at the thought of the Dursleys, but shook it off as he carried Hermione to the Chamber. By the time they got there, Hermione's face was a very deep red that made the Gryffindor red seem like pink; the entire way to the Chamber, girls had been either jealous or cooing, "Awww," at them, and the boys had just made fake coughs saying things like, "whipped." Harry didn't care-he just loved the closeness he had with Hermione. After a decade where physical contact was-to put it mildly-not pleasant, just holding the woman he loved was Heaven.

Hermione was running similar thoughts through her head. She was pretty sure that if anyone else tried to carry her the Harry was, they'd be having a long visit with Madame Pomfrey, but this was Harry. Not Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, but Harry Potter, the boy who would jump on the back of a Mountain Troll to save a girl he barely knew, who fought a basilisk to save another girl he barely knew, who rescued two innocents, who fought in a stupid tournament against his wishes, who would break the law to protect people, who would do anything for those he considered friends, and-most of all-who she loved.

She was broken from her thoughts as Harry hissed, _Open,_ followed by, _Stairs._ She struggled to control herself at the sound of parseltongue, but it was a lot harder than she thought it had any right to be. She was still trying to figure out why she was having difficulty controlling her inner animal when she heard Serpenta hiss happily, _You came back!_

Harry laughed at the obvious joy, replying, _Of course we did! We wouldn't be very good friends if we didn't, would we?_

Serpenta gave a hiss that the two teens somehow understood was a shrug. _I don't know, I've never had friends before._

Harry and Hermione winced internally; not only had they already known that, but they could empathize with it, and it hurt like hell to have to admit it out loud. Hermione simply hissed, _You have friends now._

_You speak?_ Serpenta asked Hermione, surprised. She turned her gaze to Harry, hissing, _You said she couldn't speak!_

Harry managed to look both ashamed and affronted as he replied, _She couldn't! I gave her the ability yesterday just before I left. Sorry about not saying goodbye, by the way,_ he added.

_Don't worry about it,_ Serpenta hissed with a dismissive flick of her tail. _I was still exhausted from whatever it was you did, anyway._

Harry frowned. _Why had she been exhausted?_ He thought. _She didn't have to do anything, I basically just scanned her._ He shrugged; he'd have to ask Hermione about it later. He hissed apologetically, _Sorry about that._

Serpenta again hissed in the snake equivalent of a shrug, responding, _It's shed skin, now._ Harry and Hermione both assumed that this was a snake's way of saying that it was in the past and should stay there.

Harry spent the rest of the evening getting to know Serpenta, her likes, her dislikes, her fears, and her usual habits. Apparently, there was a back entrance to the Chamber of Secrets that she would go out of to get food; her favorite was fox, and she loathed the taste of rat. She spent most of her time in the woods, and confessed that she probably would have gone out there permanently soon, and still might. When Harry asked why, she responded that she wanted to meet other basilisks, despite her new friends, it wasn't the same. Harry, of course, completely understood; it would be like him trying to be friends with a muggle-even if they knew about the magical world, there would just be something missing.

Hermione, in the meantime, was completely absorbed in the animagus book. Some of the things that the book said could happen would put them in a world of trouble. She was definitely going to have to talk to Harry about some of them. But she hadn't found anything about how to willingly transform yet. So far, it was mainly warnings about the possible downsides of the transformation. Getting frustrated, she did a very un-Hermione-like thing and started skimming through, looking for what she wanted. After what felt like eternity, she finally found what she was looking for. Relieved, she quickly read what it said. It didn't take her long, and she had to read it twice more. _Could it really be that simple?_ She asked herself.

_Could what really be how simple?_ Harry asked her mentally; apparently she had unknowingly broadcast.

"The transformation," she answered him aloud. "The book just says we have to concentrate on becoming our forms."

Harry frowned at the answer. "How are we supposed to concentrate on turning into something when we don't know what that something is?" He asked. "And how is that simple?"

Hermione shook her head, replying, "No, we're not supposed to concentrate on changing into a specific form, just on changing forms. It _does_ say that we should concentrate on a specific part of our body to start, though." Neither noticed Serpenta leave as he asked her what she meant. "I mean focus on changing a part of your body-your hand, for example. It basically says to just _will_ a part of your body to change. If I understand correctly, it's similar to a metamorphagus's ability, only less focused, since they can change pretty much anything, so they have to know exactly what they want…" She trailed off as she noticed Harry staring at her, realizing she'd gone off on a tangent. Ducking her head to hide her blush, she said hurriedly, "Why don't you give it a try? Try focusing on your hand," she encouraged him.

Shrugging, Harry stared at his hand, willing it to change into its animal form. The young couple stared in a mixture of shock and awe at the golden-furred claw that appeared at the end of his arm. Looking closely, they saw a very mild tint of red to it. Harry was the first to recover, saying, "I wasn't really expecting it that fast. I thought this was supposed to be complicated?" He asked Hermione with a light frown.

"Neither was I," Hermione admitted before addressing his question. "And it is complicated magic. Most people don't have the ability to transform at all. It's impossible to know who will transform and who will not; it's not entirely about power, it's also about who you are," Hermione said, getting into lecture mode. "For example, someone who is extremely vicious, absolutely fearless, and will often win, no matter the size of their opponent, could probably be a Fisher Cat. They're extremely vicious animals," _Got that,_ Harry thought, "and can even win a fight with a bear, even though they're about the size of Crookshanks." Harry's eyes widened; he might not have seen a bear in person, but he knew they were supposed to be at least the size of the average person, and have more fight. The idea of something the size of Crookshanks beating up on one was disquieting. "But many people can't change because the animal that describes them is too large and magically taxing for them. Or, they may not even have a specific animal-many don't. After meeting Wormtail," Harry scowled at the mention, "he got lucky; he didn't seem like someone who was magically powerful enough to be anything bigger than a rat."

Harry glanced down at the hand he had turned into a paw, trying to figure how something that large could fit on the end-it was at least one-and-a-half times the size his hand was supposed to be. He was interrupted from his musings by Hermione's voice saying, "You should change the rest of you," as though it were obvious.

Harry automatically prepared to, but paused suddenly, asking Hermione, "Any dangers I should know about?" He watched her closely, and she hesitated for a brief moment before denying it; most people wouldn't have noticed, but Harry had been forced to learn how to read people, and he had been friends with Hermione for five years. He gave her a stern look, letting her know that he hadn't been fooled, and waited for her to tell him.

_Damn it!_ Hermione screamed in her head, making sure Harry couldn't hear it. _This is going to be difficult now._ Sighing, she said, "Well, according to the book, the animal could end up taking over. Thankfully, we know you're not a fish or something, so we don't have to worry about the danger of you being unable to breathe," she added, trying to distract him from thinking about the possibility of the animal taking control, and knowing it would never work.

Sure enough, Harry's eyes grew wary, as did his tone when he asked, "What do you mean, 'the animal could end up taking over'?"

"Unless you turn into something like a phoenix-which is intelligent-you'll be acting mostly on instinct and feelings, whether it be hunger, fear, anger, etc." She admitted.

Harry frowned, puzzling over it for a moment, before his eyes widened. "I'm not changing with you here," he said, sounding both horrified and determined. "I will _not_ put you in danger."

Hermione groaned, knowing he would do this. "Harry, I have to be here when you change," she said. She held up her hand to stop his protests, explaining, "According to the book, the person needs to go through the transformation with someone familiar and important to them so that they can help coax the person back to their 'human' mind."

"Well, you certainly belong to both of those categories," Harry conceded, causing Hermione to blush. "However, I think I'll have to think about it for a little while before actually doing it; I'm too nervous to be sure I wouldn't hurt you." Hermione sighed, but nodded her acceptance; after all, she wasn't sure she would be confident enough to do it in his place. "Why don't you try changing something?" Harry suggested to her.

She started; for some reason, it hadn't occurred to her to try. Without answering, she willed her hand to change. Both of them were pleasantly surprised to see a paw looking like a smaller version of Harry's with a tint of brown rather than red. "I wonder what the tint means," Hermione wondered aloud. Harry shrugged in response. "I guess we'll find out," Hermione sighed.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence, as both suddenly realized that they were alone in a room that no one else could get into. Hermione broke the silence and brought up what they had both lived through and felt. "Harry," she started, "you remember how we lived each other's lives?" Harry tensed slightly and nodded cautiously. "I think we should talk about it," she said, more than a little nervous.

Harry frowned. "I don't understand," he confessed. "We both know what happened, and we both felt it, so what do we need to talk about?"

Hermione paused to think for a moment and gathered her thoughts before launching into her reasoning. "Well, neither of us had any friends when we were children, and because of that, we closed ourselves off; although we've both lived through the other person's life, I think we need to discuss it so we can learn to open up and undo the damage that was done." Harry frowned at being called 'damaged,' but he knew it was true, and nodded for her to continue. "I think the best way would be for us to ask the other questions, switching after every question." Seeing how nervous Harry was, she decided to go first. "Do you love me?" She asked him.

Harry practically jumped out of his skin, clearly not expecting that particular question. "Of course," he answered. But then he frowned. "Doesn't the bond we have make sure of that?"

"Yes…and no," Hermione answered. "The bond won't force you to love someone; that would be ridiculous. It will lead you to certain people based on who it believes you would love and would love you, but it is entirely possible to ignore it. Remember what Luna said? That it had been a possibility for you to bond with her?" Harry nodded. "If kissing started the bond, and the bond made you love her, why wouldn't she have just kissed you to make you love her?" She queried.

"It's not in her nature to do that," Harry replied. "But you're right; it would be foolish to force someone to love someone else." He frowned as another thought occurred to him. "What do you mean, 'kissing started the bond'?" He asked. "I thought it finalized the bond?"

Hermione looked confused for a moment, but realization struck and she said, "Oh! I did say that! I'm sorry, I meant that it finalizes the second stage of the bond."

Harry didn't lose the frown; if anything, it deepened. "There are stages to the bond?" He asked her. "How many?"

"Just three," Hermione replied. "The first stage is like…well, I guess it's kind of like dating; the part of you that makes the bond kind of searches for the perfect recipient, often finding several people you would be compatible with. In stage two, it will give a subtle pull towards those people-most don't even feel it. Stage three begins after the kiss, and that stage is where minds connect so that thoughts and feelings could be shared. The connection will grow stronger until the bond finalizes," she explained. "But, what I was trying to say is that you would love me with or without the bond, and the bond just encourages it. I didn't want you to feel like the bond had some kind of control over you."

Harry nodded absently at the last part, his mind was still on the bond. "How does the third stage get finalized?" Hermione blushed a deep crimson at the question, and looked down at the floor, which Harry had thankfully cleared of bones. _She's really beautiful when she blushes,_ Harry thought to himself. Then he mentally snorted, thinking,_ Then again, when _isn't_ she beautiful?_ A feeling of love came across the bond, and he realized that he had accidentally projected his thoughts, and sent how he felt back to her.

After a few moments of basking in each other's feelings, Hermione finally answered Harry's question, "It finalizes when I'm pregnant."

Harry blinked in surprise. Then again. Finally, a look of fear crossed his face. Hermione naturally assumed it was the thought of having children, and she was partially right, but she wasn't expecting Harry's whispered question, "What if I'm a horrible father?"

Hermione had looked at the ground when Harry's look of fear had appeared, but it shot back up in surprise at his question. "Why do you think you'd be a horrible father?" She asked him. He just gave her a look, and she recalled that the only long-term parenting he had seen came from the Dursleys; not really the best role-models. So she put her arms around him, saying, "If you're half the father that you are a husband, you'll be great." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and hugged her back. After a few moments, Hermione spun so she was sitting in his lap, and leaned against him with her eyes closed. "It's your turn for question, my knight," Hermione said after a few moments of comfortable silence.

Several questions ran through his head, but there were two that stuck out, and only one of those that he was brave enough to ask. "Why do you love me?"

Although Hermione wasn't pleased by his question, she could understand why he had a difficult time thinking someone could love him. An idea came to her mind, and she started off by teasing him with, "You're famous." After a few seconds of silence where Harry had tensed, she continued, "But you're still down to earth; you don't see beyond the bushy-haired, know-it-all, bookworm to the person underneath, but instead see the person I _am_, outside and inside. You're one of the most caring people I've ever met, and will do anything to help the people you care about. Even after the confrontation with the Weasleys, we both know that you would help them out in a heartbeat if they needed it." Hermione could feel that Harry wasn't able to really speak right then, but she did receive a mental _thank you_. "My question is, why do you love me?"

Harry frowned in puzzlement. "How could I not?" He asked her. Not waiting for a response, he continued, "I'm the famous Harry Potter, but you see me for me-Harry, the boy with emotional scars and a quick temper who only wants a family. You're willing to protect me at all costs, even if you think it will cost you my friendship. You're intelligent, beautiful, caring, stubborn, and right more often than not. I know I'll never be worthy of you, but I'll try my best every day," he finished with a promise.

Hermione snorted at the last sentence, retorting, "I think it's the other way around, but we'll just have to agree to disagree."

"Fine," Harry sighed. "When did you realize you loved me?" He asked.

"Third year," she replied without hesitation. "When we got on Buckbeak, all I could think was how nice it felt to hold you in my arms. What about you?"

"This summer, when you kissed me," Harry replied. "But I started to love you in third year. All I could think was how nice it felt for you to hold me, but I didn't know what love felt like. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I never thought you could love me back," she replied simply, causing Harry to frown. "If you felt that way third year, why did you pursue Cho fourth and fifth year?" She asked, struggling not to let the hurt she had felt show.

Harry, of course, heard it anyway, and whispered an apology as he kissed the top of her head. "It was rather obvious that Ron fancied you; when we got back to the Hospital Wing and explained everything that happened, his look of jealousy that I spent that much time with just you was obvious. Cho was reputed to be almost as smart as you, and she was almost as pretty, too. It wasn't really fair to her to use her as a substitute for you, but I didn't really know what else to do."

Hermione beamed, finally letting go of the last dredges of jealousy she had felt for the Ravenclaw Seeker. Harry telling her that he thought she was smarter and prettier than Cho had more than a little to do with that. "You know just what to say," she told her husband happily as she snuggled into him.

He smiled down at her, reveling in contact that didn't include pain as he thought of the next question he could ask her. Since they seemed to be keeping the questions personal, he discarded any questions about the animagus transformation or the bond. "Why didn't you fight back against the bullies who made fun of you in school when you were younger? I know you were creative enough to come up with some very good insults, so why didn't you fight back?"

Hermione seemed to shrink in his arms at the question, and almost told her she didn't have to answer when she started speaking. "I think I was trying to prove I was better than them," she said. "I told myself I was better than them by taking the high road."

Harry hugged her tighter. "You don't have to prove you're better than anyone, love, I already know you're better than everyone. Just ask your dad, I'm sure he'll agree with me," Harry said to her, trying to cheer her up a little.

Hermione blushed and smack his arm playfully. "Yeah, but you're both biased," she disputed, though Harry could tell it was only half-hearted and she was feeling better.

"And you love us for it," Harry said teasingly.

Hermione laughed, and confirmed it before asking her question. "When do you want to get married?"

Without thinking, he immediately responded, "Now."

Hermione was surprised at how quickly and absentmindedly he had said it; she was touched that he wanted to marry her so much that it was on his mind almost constantly. She had found out early on that you don't say things absently unless you think about it a lot.

While Hermione thought of Harry's answer, Harry was thinking of what question he wanted to ask, and soon found one. "How many children do you want?"

Hermione didn't know what she had expected, but she knew it wasn't that. She'd actually barely thought of children, if she was being honest. All she had for an answer was, "Less than the Weasleys!" Which, of course, had Harry in stitches.

"Do you want a girl or a boy more and why?" Hermione asked Harry as he stopped laughing.

"A girl," Harry responded immediately, "because I hope she looks like her mum. What about you?"

Hermione laughed as she answered, "A boy, because I hope he looks like his dad!" She took the time while he was laughing to consider what her next question would be. She knew she didn't want it to be a very serious question, but she did want it to be personal. Finally, she asked, "How much have you thought about having kids?"

"A lot," Harry answered softly. "I've even come up with some names; Lily Emma for a girl, and James Daniel for a boy." Hermione was shocked that he had thought it out that much, but touched that he wanted to include her parents in such a way. "Do you think your parents would be okay with that?" He asked nervously.

"I think they'd love it," she answered. "But not yet." Harry laughingly agreed with that assessment and Hermione asked, "What would you have done if I hadn't come after you when you ran away from my house?"

Harry buried his face in her hair and whispered, "You don't want me to answer that." Hermione didn't respond, she just waited patiently for him to answer. His sigh told her she succeeded before he even started to speak. "I probably would have been in worse shape than when you found me at the beginning of the summer," he whispered. Before she could say anything, he continued, "But I don't know that for certain-the second possibility was that I would be too weak to stay away, and would have come back begging for forgiveness."

"Which I would have granted," Hermione said, equally as quiet. _So much for not getting too serious with the questions,_ she thought to herself.

"See?" Harry said. "You're way too good to me!" Hermione just shook her head and waited for his question, afraid it was going to follow hers in terms of seriousness; she wasn't disappointed. "Do you think that some part of the Dursleys loved me?"

Hermione longed with all her heart to say yes, but she had to be honest. "I don't think anyone who loved someone in even the slightest would treat someone the way they treated you." She felt Harry nod, and decided they were done with personal questions for the day, so she asked, "What do you think your animagus form will be?"

"I honestly have no idea," Harry responded. "I know it's some kind of big cat from the paw, but the color seemed off for a lion." He paused for just a moment before asking, "Why haven't any of the other animagi we've met only changed part of themselves? Sirius, for example, would have had a great disguise covered in fur."

"Well, from what I read, you can only change a part of yourself until you willingly change fully for the first time," she explained. "Apparently, this happens because the mind automatically knows the rest of what's to come." She paused to let Harry absorb that and to think of her question. "Will you be okay if I go back to serious questions?" She finally asked.

Harry nodded, adding, "And I won't count that."

Hermione smirked up at him before asking, "What do you think of my parents?"

"I think they're great people," he responded without hesitation. "I'd like to think that's how my parents would be. From what I saw, your dad has a very devious sense of humor and you definitely got your brains from your mum. I just wish that our parents had been able to meet," he added in a soft voice. "Do you know what your parents think of me, and if so, what?" He asked after a moment of receiving comfort through their bond.

"I don't _know_ what my parents think of you," Hermione began, "but my mum seems pleased with you. I even heard her telling Dad that even after just the summer she was starting to think of you as a son. Dad responded that he liked you, but didn't think you were good enough for me," Hermione said with a frown.

She was brought out of thoughts of her father by the crack in Harry's voice as he asked, "Really? You're mum thinks of me that way?" Hermione nodded into his chest; she knew how much that meant to him. "And for the record, I still agree with your dad," Harry said in an attempt to lighten the mood a little, but Hermione could still hear the tears in his voice.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hermione decided that they had spent enough time in the gloomy Chamber, and started to tug him to the entrance. She wasn't tugging for very long when Harry took the opportunity to spoil her some more and carried her. That suddenly brought to mind a question she had been wanting to ask him. "Harry, how are you able to carry me for so long?"

"Hermione, I was the Dursley's slave. I got used to carrying plenty of weight, something that you are not," Harry replied. Hermione frowned at the treatment he had received from his 'relatives', but glad that it had enabled him to hold her so close for so long.

They spent the rest of the weekend talking about themselves, a very odd experience since they had already lived through each other's lives up to the summer. But after that weekend, many people found them to be more outgoing than they had been before.

On Monday, Harry finally agreed to transform on the condition that Hermione transformed once he changed back, so they found themselves back in the Chamber after classes. Harry had also forced his wife to stay on the other side of the room so she would have enough time to erect a shield if, for some reason, he attacked her. And that's how Hermione found herself across the room from a griffin.

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long; I was very depressed, and figured you guys didn't want Voldemort killing Hermione and Harry committing suicide, so I held off.**


	22. Unexpected

_And that's how Hermione found herself across the room from a griffin._

For a moment, Hermione was too startled to truly comprehend what she was seeing, but once she did, she frowned. There was something off about the griffin that Harry had become. She'd read about griffin's, of course, and knew they had the head of an eagle, the body of a lion, and wings, but the griffin that Harry had become was just a lion with wings.

It all became clear when he moved to take a step towards her. The movement caused his fur to shift in a way that reminded Hermione of fire, leaving only one possibility; an elemental griffin. Harry's element was obviously fire. Hermione quickly ran through everything she knew about elemental griffins, which was quite a bit. She knew that they were supposed to be very intelligent, and that the rest of their personality seemed to stem from their elements. Fire griffins were said to be fierce and uncontrollable, but also very protective. She also knew was that they had some type of control over their elements, but no one seemed to know how it was accomplished.

All that was pushed from her mind as Harry the griffin came towards her. She had no idea if the griffin part of Harry was in control, or if Harry himself was. And if the griffin was, she didn't know if he viewed her as a threat, or even food. She held very still as the griffin padded closer, until it was almost directly in front of her. As she stared at the griffin, she started to shake a little as she realized that he came up to her neck; if he decided to attack, she wasn't so sure she could stop him, and was suddenly unsure of her idea at being with him when he transformed.

Fortunately, all the griffin (she wasn't sure if it was Harry in control) seemed to want to do was sniff her, and she started to relax after a few moments. After a minute or two, she hesitantly reached out to pet him. When she first touched him, he tensed, before leaning into it, reminding her of the first time she hugged him. After a few moments of petting him, he let out a deep, rumbling purr that echoed throughout the chamber, causing Hermione to giggle a little at an enormous lion with wings purring.

After a few more minutes of petting the griffin, (with a few giggles here and there at his obvious pleasure) Hermione finally gathered her courage to ask, "Harry? Is that you?" She was rewarded by a nodding of the head, but the purring didn't stop. "Can you change back now? It's a bit disconcerting," she admitted.

The griffin nodded again, and slowly melted into Harry, who promptly fell over due to the change in equilibrium. He quickly righted himself and asked with an eager grin, "So? What am I?"

"You don't know?" Hermione asked, a bit surprised at the shake of his head. For some reason, she had assumed you would just _know_ what your form was once you turned into it. "You're a griffin," she said, starting to get excited. "And not just any griffin, but a fire elemental griffin!"

Harry just stared at her for a moment. "What's that?" He asked when it was clear that she wasn't just going to open up and elaborate.

Hermione tried to give him a reproachful look, she really did. But when she the mixed expressions of lost and hopeful, she couldn't helpbut think he looked cute, and proceeded to explain. "Unlike normal griffins, elemental griffins don't have an eagle's head, they're basically just big lions with wings. What makes them truly special, though, is their ability to control a specific element-fire, in your case. It will be truly interesting to see whether or not you can manage that control outside of your animagus form," she mused thoughtfully.

"Wait, so let me get this straight: I'm a _big_ lion, which is already a big cat, I also have wings that I can fly with, _and_ I can control fire," Harry recounted. "Has anyone else ever been an elemental griffin?" He asked.

Hermione thought through all her books for a moment, before replying, "It's rumored that Godric Gryffindor was a thunder elemental griffin, but other than that, no."

"Great, I must just be the bloody poster boy for abnormality," Harry grumbled. He was happy with such a fierce form, he really was, and he knew it would be exceedingly helpful, but it was still annoying to always be such an oddball, even in the world of magic.

"No you're not," Hermione said soothingly, evidently having heard Harry's mutterings.

Harry gave her an incredulous look, and asked, "Really? If you could please point out someone else who has lived through all three Unforgivables, survived a fight with a basilisk, driven off hundreds of dementors, battled a dragon, survived five encounters with Voldemort, fought off a possession, has a prophecy made about him, and has an elemental griffin as an animagus form, I would be grateful to hand the role of Chosen One over to him. That's not to mention surviving the Dursleys," he added as an afterthought.

_Jesus Christ, he's been through a lot! _Hermione realized with horror. She knew he was also leaving out the pain of seeing both Cedric and Sirius dying in front of him, as well as the guilt he had felt when he cast the cruciatus curse-even if it was on Lestrange. She struggled to think of a rebuttal, but she knew there was no chance of that happening, and even if there was, there chances were between nil and zilch that it had all happened to someone before they turned sixteen. But there was one thing he said that really caught her attention. "Wait, did you say _all three _Unforgivables?" She demanded.

Harry's face rapidly paled; it was the one thing he had kept hidden from her, the one thing he couldn't bear for her to experience. He hadn't even told her about it, and the only thing he had intended to lie to her about. "Yes," he answered softly.

"You mean that bastard put you under the cruciatus and the imperius?" She demanded again. He simply nodded. "And you kept it from me?" He nodded again. "Why?"

"I'm strong enough to go through it, but I'm not strong enough to see y-you in that much pain," he admitted softly after a few minutes of silence. "I-I couldn't do it." He admitted with unshed tears in his eyes.

He had looked down at her question, and therefore didn't see the bushy-haired missile that launched itself at him. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Harry," Hermione whispered in his ear.

"Don't worry about it, 'Mione," he whispered back comfortingly, "it's over now, and I have you."

"That's right, mister, you do," Hermione sniffed against his shoulder. "And don't tell me not to worry with that maniac still after you. Especially after finding out what he's willing to do to you."

Harry chuckled at how determined she could sound even while trying not to cry. "I just don't want you to worry about what already happened. I know you'll worry about the future no matter what I say. But the past is over," he said.

"Does that mean you'll stop blaming yourself for Sirius's death?" Hermione asked shrewdly.

There was a moment of silence before Harry whispered, "No. Because it is my fault, and to remember my mistakes and learn from them so I don't lose someone else. I couldn't handle it if you died," he whispered, getting a little choked. "You saw how I was after Sirius died, but without you, there'd be no point in living."

Hermione experienced an odd moment where she felt both joy and depression simultaneously; joy that Harry loved her so much, but depressed because he still blamed himself. "If it's your fault, why didn't you stop Bellatrix from firing that curse?" She asked him ruthlessly.

"I couldn't," he whispered.

"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed, pouncing on the opening he made. "There was nothing you could have done!"

"I could have not gone at all!" He said fiercely, pulling back from Hermione. "You told me-you said it was a trap! You had never led me wrong, so what made me think you would this time? I could have listened to you, then Sirius wouldn't have had to come to my rescue, and Bellatrix couldn't have killed him!" He was screaming by the end, and Hermione could tell he was struggling to hold himself together.

Once he was done, Hermione whispered, "Harry, I gave that advice without the benefit of your visions. After seeing your vision of Mr. Weasley, and then your vision of Sirius, I can honestly say I would have done the same thing. Would you have blamed me if our positions were reversed?" She asked him gently.

Harry looked shocked for a minute before blurting out, "No, of course not!" He still looked surprised for a moment, but then he realized what she did, and smiled gently before pulling her back into a tight hug, whispering, "Thank you," in her ear.

"I'll always be here for you," she whispered back, meaning her words to be comforting.

Harry, however, didn't take them that way and stiffened in her arms. "Please," he choked out, "please don't make a promise you can't keep. I couldn't take it."

Hermione gave a grim chuckle, replying, "Harry, after the bond is complete, it's not an empty promise. Besides, remember the Soul Rings? Even if they kill me, I'll be able to be with you."

Harry wasn't sure if he should be relieved that she would always be with him, or worried that they were talking about death, so he just hugged her, trying to convey his desperation through the action, and also projected it through the bond, causing Hermione to gasp at the strength of the emotion. He was perfectly content to simply hold her like that, but her mention of the bond reminded him of a question he meant to ask, and brought up a new one. "Hermione, what did you mean it's not an empty promise after the bond is complete?"

"Well, apparently, if my soul goes on-or yours does-it will drag the partner's soul with it," Hermione explained. "It doesn't really some like a good thing, to be honest."

"Well, I don't mind if it means we're together forever," Harry said honestly, causing Hermione to smile into his shoulder. "But I had another question about the bond. What happens during the final stage?"

"Ummm...well, our connection will strengthen, making our thoughts and emotions more easily read by the other person, and it will push us towards completing the bond," she muttered awkwardly. "And it will prevent birth control," she added.

"Oh," Harry said simply, a little shocked. "How hard will it push?"

"Well," Hermione began, "it's more our magic pushing us. And, given how powerful we are, it's going to push hard."

"Oh crap," Harry muttered. "I want to be a father, but not yet!"

"I don't think we have a choice," Hermione said. "Plus, our animal forms are naturally more basic, including sex. So that, too, is lowering our inhibitions," she sighed.

"Speaking of our animal forms," Harry said, eager to change the subject, "Are you going to change now?"

Hermione smiled at his blatant attempt to change the subject, but acquiesced and nodded. "I think that opposite sides of the room would be prudent again, though." Harry nodded at her suggestion, and reluctantly released her and walked back to where he started from, as did Hermione. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to change.

* * *

Harry watched in amazement as Hermione melted into a form that he recognized from Hermione's description of his own form-he was face-to-face with a giant lion with wings, but instead of the red tinge he had seen in his own fur, her's had a brown tinge, leading Harry to assume that her element was earth. It seemed even more evident when she moved and it looked like pebbles cascading across her fur.

As he watched, he noticed that Hermione seemed much more aware of herself than he had been; she was looking back at herself and stretching her wings. Since it seemed so much like the Hermione he knew, he smiled and started walking towards her. Unfortunately, this set the griffin part of her off at the sudden movement, and it gave a low growl in warning, causing Harry to freeze and pale a little. _Okay, note to self, don't make any sudden movements,_ he thought sardonically.

Suddenly, it occured to him that Hermione may be in a different form, but they still had the bond connecting them. _Hermione?_ He questioned in his head, trying to get it to go through the bond.

He was rewarded by the griffin's head snapping up, and a questioning thought _Harry?_ was sent through his head. _I didn't know we could talk in our forms,_ Hermione said.

_Neither did I_, Harry said with a grin, _But it's definitely useful_.

Hermione slowly melted back into her normal form, agreeing, "It definitely is."

* * *

For the next few weeks, the would head down to the chamber after every class, practicing in their forms and seeing if they could control their element in their regular forms. Neither was actually expecting to be able to, and they were both surprised when Harry was suddenly covered in flames and Hermione caused the entire chamber to shake in the first few attempts. Thankfully, the only thing hurt was Harry's pride when it turned out he had burnt his clothes off and Hermione had to conjure him more between fits of giggles.

The first change came when Snape started teaching silent spellcasting; in an attempt to humiliate Harry, he called him to the front so they could 'demonstrate' dueling with it. It was a very quick duel, as Snape started off by taunting him, thinking he wouldn't be able to do it. He quickly found himself stunned and disarmed, waking to a classroom of stunned students. Upon realizing what had happened, Snape snarled, "That's fifty points from Gryffindor for attacking a teacher." Harry, to his surprise, simply nodded and headed back to his seat. Snape left him alone for all future classes after that.

The second change came when Hermione finally managed to catch Harry up with Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, enabling him to switch from Divination to thos two after taking his OWLs on them and passing. The best benefit for the two of them was having every class together, and the second was the knowledge that this could help them with the evntual confrontation with Voldemort.

To their surprise, it was nearly Halloween and nothing had happened yet. On Monday-exactly one week before Halloween-the first Hogsmeade weekend was announced, causing Harry to groan. "Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned. "What is it?"

"Hogsmeade is going to be attacked this weekend," Harry said sadly.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked. Glancing up to his scar, she whispered, "Did you get a flash from Voldemort?"

"No," Harry said morosely, "it's almost Halloween. Except for last year, something bad has always happened on Halloween. If you were Voldemort, would you give up the opportunity to attack a magical village when the school housing the person on your 'Most Wanted Dead' list visits there?" Hermione shook her head mutely. Harry closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and raised his head. "We're still going, though. We can protect them, and, if I'm wrong, we should have fun while we can," Harry said, clearly very determined.

Hermione, though worried, nodded in agreement. "It will be our first date at Hogwarts," she said, trying to put a light spin on it.

Harry, knowing what she was attempting, raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back, asking lightly, "Milady, will you do me the great honor of allowing me to accompany you this Hogsmeade visit?"

Hermione, acting pompous, replied, "Well, I might allow it. I'll have to check my other prospects."

Harry's lips quirked towards a smile, but he continued to play the part, saying, "Alas! Am I too late?"

Hermione couldn't hold it any longer and burst out laughing. Neville, who had taken to sitting with the two, just shook his head in bemusement. He was quickly distracted, though, by a tall, red-headed boy who was walking towards them. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he grabbed the couple's attention and pointed him out. They glanced over at the nervous Ron, and the laughter died as he came closer.

"H-hey, guys," Ron said nervously. "C-can we talk?" He asked, gulping. Harry and Hermione glanceed at each other, carried out a quick mental conversation, nodded, and then gestured for Ron to continue. "I-I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have accused you," he nodded to Harry, "of using a love potion, and I know I had no claim to you, Hermione. "C-can we become friends again?"

_Could we?_ Harry asked Hermione mentally.

_I don't know,_ Hermione answered. _He has a tendency to get jealous, and given everything we've been doing, would it even be _possible_ to include him?_

Harry sighed across the link. _I don't know. But he was my first friend my age,_ he said plaintively.

_Harry, how good of a friend has he been?_ She asked gently.

_What do you mean?_ Harry asked, a frown visible on his face.

_Has he actually stuck by you when you needed him? Fourth Year, at the beginning of the Tournament, he abandoned you even though as a friend he should have believed you,_ she said gently. _Do you remember how greedy and jealous he looked when he saw the inside of your vault Second Year? When something good happens to you, or you get something he wants, you're just someone who has what he wants. I know you don't want to hear it, but I don't think he's actually a very good friend,_ Hermione said to him, gently breaking her thoughts to him. She wasn't sure if he could handle more, but she had to continue. _Even in First Year,_ she mentally whispered, _when you first encountered the Weasleys, didn't something seem suspicious? Mrs. Weasley had been going through the barrier for about a dozen years, do you really think she would be asking loudly about it, or screaming about it being packed with muggles?_ She could see Harry practically curl up on himself as she spoke to him.

"Ron," Harry started firmly, "were you actually my friend?" He asked.

Ron looked truly startled by the question. "W-what do you mean?" He asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Did someone push you into being my friend?" Harry pushed, noticing that Ron paled at the question. Standing slowly, he asked menacingly, "Who?"

"M-Mum," Ron admitted. "Sh-she said Dumbledore thought we would be g-good f-friends."

"**DUMBLEDORE**!" Harry screamed, not noticing his magic exploding out of him and shattering the windows in the Great Hall.

Dumbledore, sitting at the Head Table, jumped to his feet, saying sternly, "Mr. Potter, control yourself!"

"Oh, I will!" Harry said, marching towards the Head Table. "Because I'm tired of you doing it!" That said, Harry turnedfand marched out, robes billowing in a way reminiscent of Snape. Everyone stared after him in shock, except Hermione, who shot a glare at the Headmaster and hurried after her husband.

**A/N: Thanks to my new beta Inzainiac for his help!**


	23. Surprise!

_Everyone stared after him in shock, except Hermione, who shot a glare at the Headmaster and hurried after her husband._

When Hermione caught up to Harry, she wasn't surprised to feel that the air around him was warming up, though the look of intense concentration on his face confused her. "Harry?" She asked tentatively.

Harry didn't stop walking or look towards her when he replied, "I can _feel _the griffin trying to escape. He wants to tear at someone, and right now the preference is Dumbledore. I can barely keep it contained. I'm going to the Room of Requirement so it will give me somewhere I can rage. Please don't follow me."

Hermione wanted to argue, to be there for him, but she knew he needed to feel like he could let go without worrying about actually hurting someone, so she simply murmured, "Alright Harry. I'm here for you." Feeling his relief assured her that she was doing the right thing, though she found it difficult to head to their room when he went to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

When Harry made it to the Room of Requirement, he requested a place where he could let go and rage. When he opened the door, he was shocked and angered to find Dumbledore talking to Ron, saying, "You should get close to Harry, you two would make excellent friends, I'm sure. And just think, if you were friends, imagine the money he would spend on gifts."

It was the final straw for Harry, who almost immediately became a griffin and let out an enraged roar. Had he been less angry, he would have enjoyed the look of horror on their faces, but at that particular moment, he just wanted to rend them limb from limb or turn them to ash, whichever.

The animal part of him enjoyed the fear of his prey, reveling in the horror as the table they had been sitting at combusted in flames. He could smell it on them, and they smelled delicious soaked in fear. Snapping open his wings, he leaped into the air, circling his prey overhead. Then suddenly, with another roar, he was upon them. It was over in seconds, and Harry-though covered in blood-felt cleansed of his anger. He probably would have felt guilty, but without his anger clouding his judgement he knew it was just a simulation by the room. A few quick cleaning charms later, and he was headed to the room he shared with his wife.

When he got there, he wasn't at all surprised to find her pacing the room, clearly worried. As soon as she saw him, she gave him one of her custom hugs, exclaiming, "Harry!" Apparently, not even knowing what he was going to do was enough for her, as she immediately started asking questions. "What happened? Do you feel better? Why are you back so quick?"

Harry took a moment tolaugh at the typical way Hermione fired her questions before replying. "I feel better, I'm back so quick because what happened was quick, and what happened was I killed Dumbledore and Ron." He took a moment to let her think he meant it literally before laying her fears to rest. "Relax, it was just a simulation in the Room of Requirement, I didn't actually do anything."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed him tighter for a moment before asking, "What are we going to do?"

Harry heaved a heavy sigh at the question. "I assume you're referring to our resident manipulator and the red-headed pawn?" He asked, receiving a snort of amusement at his description of Ron and a nod at the question. "I don't know," he replied. "All I can think of is trying to avoid them for right now. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well," Hermione began, "I would suggest enlisting the twins' help, but we have no idea if they're in on it. But what about Remus?" She asked mischievously, and Harry could almost feel the evil smirk he was sure she sported at that moment.

"I like it!" He replied almost immediately. He pulled back for a moment, and leaned in to give Hermione a quick kiss on the lips before he whispered to her, "I'm glad I don't have to worry about your honesty. I know you'll always be honest and there for me."

Hermione just pulled him back into the crushing hug, whispering back, "Always."

* * *

The next day, they made a floo call to Remus using the fireplace in their room, and were quite gratified at the rage the werewolf displayed when they explained who they wanted to prank and why. After he had calmed down, he asked the most important question, "Why did Dumbledore want you to be friends with Ron?"

Harry glanced to Hermione, who glanced at Harry, before looking back to Remus. "We don't know," they replied in unison.

"We need to find that out," Remus said, pacing and looking down thoughtfully. "Both the Weasleys and Dumbledore are different, there's no denying that, but they're also both reputed to be Light. I just can't figure out what that old man was trying to accomplish," he finished, shaking his head and still pacing.

"Maybe he was trying to prevent Harry from going Dark," Hermione mused thoughtfully. "If he was friends with someone from a Light family, he'd hardly be willing to go Dark and attack them."

Harry snorted. "That doesn't even make sense. If I was going to go Dark, friends wouldn't matter in the slightest."

"Unless he knew how you grew up, and assumed you would attach yourself to the first person who seemed friendly to you," Hermione pointed out.

Remus immediately stopped pacing and his head snapped up as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'how he grew up'?" He asked darkly.

Hermione glanced to Harry, her expression a mixture of an apology and a request to tell him; she wasn't going to make the same mistake she had with her mother. Harry sighed and nodded, but excused himself and pulled his head out of the fire. Hermione looked back to Remus, who was clearly expecting a response, and asked, "Do you know how the Malfoys treated Dobby?" Remus's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he nodded, expecting Hermione to say that Harry hadn't been treated much better. Instead, she said, "He was treated worse."

"_Worse_?" He yelled. Taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, he demanded through clenched teeth, "Explain."

"You might want to sit down," Hermione said, waiting for him to do so before beginning. "He was trained to cook and clean at two, but was lucky if he got a meal a day and lived in a cupboard under the stairs. He did the laundry, but all of his clothes were hand-me-downs from Dudley. He's had more broken bones at one time than most people have had in total. The worst, though, is that from the ages of five to ten, he attempted to kill himself on Christmas and his birthday every year. Magic kept him alive every time," Hermione said, crying unashamedly by this point. Remus looked ready to commit murder.

As though to prove it, he shouted, "I'll kill them!"

Hermione shook her head. "You can't. They're already dead."

Remus looked at her, surprise clearly written on his face. "Dumbledore didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what?" Hermione asked cautiously.

* * *

When Hermione pulled her head out of the fire, Harry wasn't surprised to see tear tracks on her face. He was however, surprised by the anger in her expression. "Hermione?" He asked, worried. "What's wrong?"

"Dumbledore!" She spat. "Apparently, the Dursleys are alive and well-they weren't home when the house was attacked and there was a muggle-repelling charm on the house, which explained why no one saw what happened. And that bloody bastard kept it from us!" She ranted, now pacing angrily.

Harry wasn't sure if he was more shocked that the Dursleys were still alive, that Dumbledore hadn't tried to force him to go back to them, or that Hermione was swearing. Not sure what he was supposed to do, or feel, he just stood there, shocked by the new information. He wasn't angry, or sad, just shocked. Suddenly, he snapped out of it and turned to Hermione, who was still pacing and muttering angrily under her breath. "Hermione," he said, startling her, "Does it really matter? What would we have done with the information?"

"I would have taken my dad's shotgun and seen how they liked their arms blown off," she answered unhesitatingly, and with a startling vehemence. At least, startling to him; anyone else would have been in perfect agreement with her.

"Hermione, isn't that a bit excessive?" He asked tentatively.

Hermione just stared at him. Was he really saying what he thought she was? "Harry, I'll be perfectly frank, I think that's less than they deserve. If I wouldn't be sent to Azkaban and separated from you, I would love nothing more than to experiment with the cruciatus on them," she answered, totally blowing him away.

"Hermione, they're not worth it," Harry said, taking her into his arms. "They're in the past now, and that's where they're going to stay. Although, pranking them every now and again couldn't hurt," he said with a grin.

After a few more mumbled expressions of hatred, Hermione sighed, saying, "Alright, Harry. I'll go easy on them for you."

"Thanks, love," he whispered in her ear. "Shall we go to bed?" He asked gently. They'd had plenty of surprises for the day, and he wanted to go to bed before they had any more. Feeling Hermione nod against his chest, he gently lifted her and carried her to the bed where he gently laid her down and kissed her lips gently. At least, his intent was gentle. However, Hermione was having none of it and it quickly became a passionate snog.

After a few moments, Hermione was tugging insistently at his shirt, but quickly gave up with a growl and simply vanished their clothes. Before, Harry would have expected it to be awkward, but it somehow seemed like the most natural thing in the world at that time. He soon found his mouth at one breast, his right hand at the other, and his left hand a bit lower. The most exciting part for Harry right then was hearing Hermione's reaction. Or it was, until she reached lower, too.

A while later, the two of them were asleep in each other's arms, totally spent.

* * *

The rest of the week passed mostly uneventfully; they ignored Dumbledore and Ron, and left the pranks to the last true Marauder. The only thing that had truly changed was that they were exploring the physical aspect of their relationship more, and Harry was getting more and more nervous as the Hogsmeade weekend approached. Finally, the day arrived, and Harry-though trying to put on a brave face-was pretty twitchy.

In one of the carriages, Hermione leaned over to him and whispered, "Relax, Harry," before kissing any worries out of his mind. By the time they got to Hogsmeade, they both looked like they had taken a ride on the Knight Bus.

After a quick stop at the Three Broomsticks, Harry and Hermione headed to the bookstore, Hermione's favorite place in Hogsmeade. At first, she tried to dissuade him, thinking he was only doing it for her, but when he mentioned that he needed to learn more spells, shields, and types of magical transportation, she quickly caved.

For the first hour or so, nothing really happened; they just sat quietly at the table looking through various books. At some point, though, Harry felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to find a very nervous but determined-looking girl who had a poster in one hand and appeared to have dragged her mother in with here. Smiling down at her, he said, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?"

"Sarah," said the girl quietly. At this point, Hermione finally noticed that someone had come to their table, but just sat back and quietly watched.

Harry, still smiling, gently asked, "How can I help you, Sarah?"

The little girl looked up at her mother for some confidence, and received the encouraging smile she had looked for. Taking a deep breath, Sarah asked quickly, "Canyousignmyposterplease?"

Harry chuckled at her nervousness as he tried not to grimace at the thought of a poster and an autograph, but he replied, "Yes, I will, Sarah." So saying, he gently took the poster of him, laid it on the table, signed it, and handed it back to the wide-eyed girl.

The mother had caught his eye, and was mouthing a thank you when a voice he recognized yelled "Avada Kedavra!" Causing the mother whose name he didn't know to fall lifelessly to the ground. Harry had been right; Death Eaters were attacking Hogsmeade.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Inzainiac, my beta, for correcting my numerous mistakes!**


	24. A Child

_Harry had been right; Death Eaters were attacking Hogsmeade._

Harry was out of his chair and in front of Sarah before anyone else had even realized what had happened. He quickly cast the disarming jinx, a stunner, and the incarcerous hex in quick succession. Unfortunately, the masked Death Eater batted them all away with ease, asking in a baby voice, "Aww, is wee Potty having twouble wid his spells?"

Harry immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman who had murdered his godfather. The air around him became so intensely hot that Hermione and Sarah could both feel it from only a few feet away. Hermione desperately wanted to help, since she recognized the voice as well, but she stayed back to protect Sarah. Besides, Harry was casting spells faster than she could keep up with. There was one coming from his wand and one coming from his free hand. She could also tell that they weren't friendly spells-they looked like cutting curses, bone-breaking hexes, and other such nasty spells. She noticed that Bellatrix actually seemed to be having trouble and was no longer taunting Harry. Shifting so that Sarah was behind her, she joined the fight, casting spells that were just as dangerous as her husband's.

After what felt like an eternity, but was really only a few minutes, one of Harry's bone-breaking hexes hit Bellatrix in the thigh, quickly followed by the incarcerous spell from Hermione, then the disarming jinx from Harry, who promptly snapped her wand. Looking at each other, they both nodded and merged their minds, making them the perfect fighting pair, and headed out to see who else was there. Deciding to try something simple, he cast a powerful summoning charm for Death Eater wands, and, much to his surprise, at least a dozen found their way to him. Unfortunately, it called the attention of the rest of the Death Eaters, and half a dozen promptly began attacking them, surprisingly not using Unforgivables.

The couple didn't really have time to contemplate that, though; they were too busy being outnumbered three-to-one. Hermione was shielding against the curses as Harry tooknthe offensive threw spells out at an alarming rate. Within seconds, there were only two left, the other four having apparated away. But the two teens were tiring and were beginning to worry they might actually lose, despit their original success. That thought was quickly interrupted by their opponent on the right firing a familiar purple spell-but not at them. Sarah had followed them outside.

Seeing where the spell was headed, Harry shouted, "No!" And promptly conjured a thick piece of stone to block the spell. He was now fairly sure it was Dolohov, completely forgetting that he had been locked up, and his rage exploded at the two. Before he could actually do anything, though, the two apparated away, having felt his power wash over them. Although angry, he was grateful that they had managed to catch Bellatrix. Unfortunately, that thought was dispelled when he turned to see empty ropes. "Damn it!" Harry seethed.

"Harry!" Hermione scolded. "Children," she reminded him, gesturing to Sarah who had tears running down her face.

Seeing Sarah crying caused the anger to leave him as he knelt down and hugged the girl, who immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and began to sob. As gently as he possibly could, Harry asked, "Where's your father?"

"He...left," she answered him between sobs.

_Damn it!_ Harry thought. _How many orphans is that bastard going to make?_He asked himself mentally. "Do you have any other relatives?" He asked gently. She shook her head. Sighing, he asked her to direct them to her house. After they had collected her stuff, (Sarah still clutching Harry) the headed back to Hogwarts and Harry explained, "We're going to talk to Professor McGonagall to try and find you a good family."

Harry felt the little girl tense in his arms, but he didn't know why until she asked hesitantly, "Can...can I stay with you?"

Harry could hear the desperateness in her voice, and had to struggle not to immediately say yes. Hermione was, and would always be, a part of this, and he turned to look at her, his eyes pleading for a yes. Fortunately, she had already expected this when she heard the question, and had already decided. Her eyes, and the bond, expressed acceptance with this course of action.

Turning back to look down at Sarah, he said with a smile, "Well, we'll still have to see McGonagall, but I think she'll say yes."

* * *

"Absolutely not!" McGonagall exclaimed when she heard the plan of her two teenaged students. "You two aren't old enough to raise a child!"

Taking a deep breath to keep from lashing out, Harry asked, "And who would you suggest?" He continued before she could answer, "After seeing how the Dursleys raised me and how they raised Dudley, I have two complete opposites of 'do nots' to draw from. I don't know if I _can_ do it, but I do know that I can try. And, unlike many, I can empathize with what she's going through. Besides that, she _wants _me to raise her." He was glad he had decided to leave Sarah with Hermione and talk to McGonagall alone for now; they were outside the door, waiting for him to finish. "And have either of us ever acted our age?" He added. McGonagall was forced to admit they didn't act their age. "Can you think of anyone more able to protect her?" Before, McGonagall would have suggested Dumbledore, but after seeing how scrawny and feeble Harry was every time he came to Hogwarts, she could no longer believe it, and shook her head. "So do you agree?" She nodded. "Thank you," he said before walking out, glad that she had the ability as Deputy Headmistress to permit someone underage joining the school so he wouldn't have to see the Headmaster.

Before he got to the door, he remembered something else he had wanted to ask the Deputy Headmistress. He hesitantly asked, "Professor McGonagall...how many casualties were there?"

McGonagall tensed, but answered, "Of the Hogsmeade residents, ten people died, and thirty-six were injured." Taking a deep breath to steel herself, the Deputy Headmistress continued, "Three Hogwarts students were killed, and twenty-two were injured."

Harry closed his eyes, not willing to look at the Transfiguration teacher. "Will the injured be alright?" He asked.

"Yes, they'll be fine," McGonagall answered, and waited for the question she hoped he wouldn't ask, but knew he would.

"Who died?" Harry asked in a whisper.

With another deep breath, she answered, "Colin Creevey, Millicent Bulstrode, and Marietta Edgecombe."

Harry let out a pained sigh, and nodded in acknowledgement. When he opened his eyes, there was a fierce determination in his eyes. "I _will_ end this," he swore.

McGonagall gave him a stern look. "Mr. Potter, you will leave the fighting to the adults."

Harry snorted. "You mean like all my other years here?" He asked sarcastically. Not bothering to wait for her to respond, he said, "If you'll excuse me, my wife and Sarah are getting nervous." And he left without a backwards glance, leaving a shocked Minerva McGonagall to ponder over his statements.

* * *

In the hallway outside the Professor's office, Harry was immediately greeted by a small, brown-haired missile immediately followed by a larger brown-haired missile. After giving Hermione a hug in return, as well as a quick peck on the lips, he bent down and picked up Sarah, amazed at how quickly he has grown comfortable with her.

When they returned to their rooms, Sarah looked around at them in awe. Harry told her she could look around if she wanted, but she just shook her head and clutched him tighter, causing Harry to smile. Unnoticed, Hermione also smiled, though it was more at how amazingly quickly the little girl had wormed her way into her husband's heart.

The three of them headed to the couch, and Sarah continued to cling to Harry like a limpet. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Sarah?" Harry asked. There was no response. Alarmed, Harry looked down at the little girl in his arms and smiled gently at the sight of her sleeping. The two teens rose from the couch and placed her on the bed in what used to be the guest room. Smiling at the sight of Harry gently kissing the little girl on the forehead, Hermione cast a monitoring charm and mild light charm on the floor before the two teens quietly left and closed the door behind them.

"Is it a good idea to let her sleep alone?" Harry asked fretfully once they returned to the couch.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, not sure she understood.

"She saw her mother killed in front of her," Harry said. "And I can tell you from experience that she is almost guaranteed to have nightmares about it for a while. I don't want her to wake up alone," he finished softly.

Understanding flashed as she realized that Harry hadn't seen her cast the monitoring charm. Laying her hand gently on his arm, she reassured him, "Harry I cast a monitoring charm on her, and tied it to the locket you gave me for my birthday. Which you could have informed me had protective charms on it by the way," she sidetracked with a mock glare, causing Harry to give a sheepish grin. "But as soon as she starts having a nightmare, it will let me know, and I'll let you know."

Harry heaved a sigh, and said, "Thanks," with a gentle kiss, but Hermione could tell he was still worried.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing," Harry started to say, but the look on his wife's face let him know he wasn't getting away with it. Looking at his hands, he whispered brokenly, "What if I'm wrong? What if everything I told McGonagall is false? What if I'm a horrible father?"

Hermione couldn't help it; she laughed. Harry's head jerked up and he gave her an affronted look. "It's just...you...a horrible...father," she said between laughs. Taking a moment to calm down, she reassured him, "Harry, I saw the way you interacted with that little girl. At this moment, I can honestly say you don't have to worry about being a horrible father." Harry nodded and gave a small smile, but Hermione knew he was still a little worried. She knew only time would fully convince him, and let it go, snuggling into him. In a few minutes, they fell asleep against each other.

* * *

Hermione woke with a start to her locket vibrating against her chest. Harry, who had been forced to become a light sleeper, was immediately awake. "What is it?" He asked, looking around on high alert.

"Sarah," she answered simply. She wasn't surprised that he was halfway to her room before she could think of it. She put her hand to her stomach and smiled, wondering how he would be with theit own child if this was how he treated a stranger's daughter. For some reason, though, she suspected he wouldn't play favorites with his own children. Shaking the thought off, she got off the couch and followed Harry into Sarah's room.

She stopped at the doorway, watching as Harry comfortingly rocked a sobbing Sarah. She could just barely hear him saying, "Shh, I've got you. You're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you." Afer a few minutes of the soothing noises, Sarah eventually fell back to sleep in Harry's arms. He laid her on the bed, aan began to walk towards Hermione, but Sarah immediately began to toss and turn. When Harry picked her up, she quieted again. Smiling gently, Harry carried her over to Hermione. "It looks like I have a hanger-on," he whispered to Hermione, amused.

Hermione, also smiling, merely nodded in agreement and led him towards their room. Holding Sarah in between them, they all eventually fell asleep.


	25. Sunday and Monday

_Hermione, also smiling, merely nodded in agreement and led him towards their room. Holding Sarah in between them, they all eventually fell asleep._

The next morning, as usual, Harry was the first one awake. The difference was, he was awake before two people rather than just one person. He sighed, running his hand through his hair as he realized that a lot more was going to change. Could they care for a child while still in school? Would this change things between him and Hermione? Could they still train while caring for Sarah? They were mostly in control of the griffins by now, it was true; but the sight of said griffins-and the dangerous curses they were learning-was still scary. Not to mention that they often dueled and spells went astray. It wasn't like he could leave Sarah on her own, and he and Hermione weren't going to be separated.

Heaving another sigh, he cast a stasis charm on Sarah before waking Hermioine; they needed to talk, and not just about Sarah. "Hermione," he whispered, shaking her gently.

"Harry?" Hermione murmured sleepily, eyes still closed.

Harry nodded, but realized her eyes were still closed and said, "Yes." Rising from the bed, Harry said, "Come on, we need to talk." Hermione groaned, but nodded, reluctantly opened her eyes, left the warmth of their bed, and followed Harry into what was basically their living room.

Sitting on the couch and stifling a yawn, Hermione asked, "What exactly did you have in mind to talk about?"

Harry wanted to talk about Sarah, and their new responsibilities. But he was going to work up to it by discussing the battle, first. "You remember that magical power test thing that Dumbledore did?" Harry asked, receiving a roll of the eyes for his terminology but a nod for the question. "If my recharge rate is that high, why was I exhausted after the battle yesterday?"

Hermione didn't even have to think about it, she immediately responded, "Harry, you may get your magic back almost immediately, but you have to push that magic through your body. You could have ten times the amount of power as Dumbledore, but your body still has to control that power." Her eyes got a hard glint, and she continued, "Unfortunately, despite the summer you spent at my house, the Dursleys caused a lot of damage, and your energy reserves won't be high enough to sustain a good, continual use of your magic."

Harry looked nonplussed. "But Dumbledore doesn't seem very strong, but he didn't look exhausted after the intense battle against Voldemort."

"I suspect he is stronger than he looks," Hermione said wryly.

"He's, what, 150?" Harry asked, skeptical. "How strong could he be?"

Hermione seemed thoughtful for a moment before her eyes lit up. "I suspect he used part of his magic to give himself energy for a while," she said. "The downside is it makes him more exhausted later." Harry nodded in understanding before she asked, "Now, what's really on your mind?"

Harry gulped, answering softly, "Sarah." Hermione frowned slightly, but didn't appear to be surprised. When she didn't say anything, Harry continued. "What if I was wrong? What if we can't take care of her? We still have school, after all, and training. With Voldemort after me, it's hardly safe. I'm putting her in danger," he finished, looking much harried.

Hermione smiled over his concern for Sarah, and once again wondered at how quickly the little girl had wormed her way into his heart. "Let me ask you this, Harry," Hermione began with a smile. "_Could_ you let her go?" Seeing his stunned look, she continued with, "I would also suggest you ask her if she would rather be adopted by someone else, or us, before making up your mind. And I have a plan to keep her safe," she added mysteriously.

A lot of Harry's nervousness cleared up at the statement, and he asked, "What's the plan?" Hermione merely fingered her locket, causing Harry's eyes to light up. Capturing her lips in a quick kiss, he breathed, "You're brilliant."

"Yes," Hermione agreed, acting pompous. Then, turning mock angry, she shoved Harry gently, saying, "And _you_ should have told me about the charms. Who did them, anyway? They're really difficult."

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise. "They didn't seem that difficult. I just kind of told my magic what I wanted," he admitted before frowning. "Although I _was_ exhausted afterwards," he admitted.

Hermione stared at him with wide eyes. "You did these charms?" She asked softly. At his nod, she asked excitedly, "Can you please tell me what they do? I can't figure it out," she admitted with a small pout.

Hiding his grin at her pout, he explained, "Well, I found out in one of our books that you can draw magical energy from other things, including spells. So it occured to me to wonder about protective charms on things like jewelry and stuff. When I found that, I basically told my magic that I wanted to enchant your locket so that any spells were used to give you energy rather than do what they were supposed to do. It probably has to be recharged now," he added thoughtfully, holding out his hand. Hermione wordlessly handed him the locket, amazingly still shocked at what he could do with magic. Watching closely, she saw a brief glow of white mixed with black appear around the hand holding the locket, and Harry looked exhausted as he returned the locket to her.

Hermione looked at the locket in her hand thoughtfully, thinking of all the impossible things he had done; it had started in Third Year, when he repelled all of those dementors. Fourth Year, he had thrown off the imperious curse with ease compared to everyone else. Last year he had been able to throw off a possession by one of the most powerful wizards alive, possibly injuring him if Dumbledore was to believed, and this year he was practically doing it daily! The way he had been able to protect them both from a basilisk's stare, giving her the ability to speak parseltongue, summoning Death Eaters' wands, and these charms! She could only think of two things they had in common: Harry wanted to do it, so he did, and he had no idea that it shouldn't be able to happen. From that moment forward, Hermione resolved not to explain things to him, and just let him do what he wanted. If him not knowing things were impossible got him to do said things, she wasn't going to stop it!

Abandoning her thoughts, Hermione asked, "Why did it glow white and black? And why didn't the colors mix?"

Harry looked slightly ashamed as he admitted, "I think the colors didn't mix because they represent different magics. As for the particular colors, the protective charms are considered light, but stealing another's power is considered dark. Hence, white and black. At least, I think that's why."

Hermione nodded, but wasn't convinced. Unless it was Harry's perception that changed the color. She thought about that, adding in that he wasn't using specific spells, and thought it likely. However, with her new resolve to let him succeed in the impossible, she simply stood, saying, "Let's go get Sarah and start the day."

Harry nodded and started to stand up, but then he hesitated. "I'll wait here, Hermione," he said with a smile, sitting back down.

Hermione, though perplexed, nodded. She had assumed that Harry would like to wake her up; they had known her for maybe a day, but if she asked for anything, Hermione was sure Harry would give it to her. As she headed into the room, she realized that Harry probably wanted her to get along with Sarah as well.

Hermione paused as she reached down to shake Sarah gently awake; there was some kind of spell placed on her. Panicking, Hermione quickly examined it, breathing a sigh of relief when she found that it was a simple stasis charm so they wouldn't wake up their daughter and she could continue to be nightmare free.

She was about to undo the spell when the word she had just thought filtered through. _Daughter?_ She thought. Looking down at Sarah, she nodded to herself. _Daughter. Maybe she'll let us adopt her,_ she thought hopefully, finally able to fully comprehend that this was probably how Harry felt as well.

Smiling, Hermione undid the spell and gently shook Sarah awake. The little girl rolled away from her, muttering sleepily, "Five more minutes mummy."

Hermione's heart leaped into her throat and she froze in shock at the unexpected term. It didn't matter that it was because she was used to it being her biological mother waking her up; being called 'mummy' unleashed something in her. Something that really wanted to be called 'mummy' again.

Unaware of the tears pooling in her eyes, she asked, "Don't you want to explore the castle, Sarah?" Mention of the castle seemed to wake her up, and she sat up, nodding eagerly, though there was more than a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Then you have to wake up," Hermione said teasingly, trying not to dwell on her previous thoughts. With another eager nod, Sarah raced to the bathroom to get ready.

With a sigh of longing, Hermione headed back into the living room, where she was met by a grinning Harry who asked, "How'd it go?"

"As if you don't know," Hermione retorted with a snort.

"Me?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance. "How would I know?"

"Like you weren't listening in. Remember, I can detect you," she said, tapping her head.

"Would I do that?" Harry asked, now feigning innocence as well as ignorance.

"Yes," Hermione replied simply, though there was definitely a smile tugging at her lips.

"I would not," Harry declared with mock indignation. The effect was ruined by the fact that, like Hermione, there was a smile trying to make itself known.

"Are we gonna tour the castle now?" Sarah asked as she came into the room, interrupting the couple's mock argument.

Hermione scooped her up, but it was Harry who replied, "Yes we are, little one. I'm sure you'll love it, too."

They started the tour by travelling all the way down to the first floor to show Sarah the Great Hall. They decided not to go to the dungeons; as Harry put it, "You're not a bat, a snake, or some type of mold, so you won't like it down there." Thankfully, it was pretty early for a Sunday, and everywhere was empty, so when Harry magically placed a glowing sign that said, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Sarah!" He wasn't interrogated by anyone. As Harry and Hermione brought her around the school, they slowly started encountering more and more people, all of who doted on the little girl in Hermione's arms. Harry was pretty sure that Malfoy and his ilk wouldn't have, but, thankfully, they stayed asleep-or at least out of sight.

By the time they were done with the tour, all the trio wanted to do was eat and sleep. Thanks to Dobby, that was exactly what they did.

* * *

The next day, of course, things went crazy.

Malfoy, in a typical display of stupidity, was the one to open his mouth first. "Hey, Potter, the Mudblood not enough for you? Now you're raising your own little whore?" His two goons probably would have started to laugh, but Malfoy had already started screaming.

Harry was staring at him with fury blazing in his eyes. He stood up and faced down Malfoy, who seemed to be paralyzed to the spot. "Malfoy," he spat, "why won't you learn?" Although his voice was quiet, and Malfoy was still screaming, everyone in the Great Hall eating breakfast heard him. "Time and time again you've confronted me or people I care about, and each time you've lost." Reaching out, Harry grabbed one of his fingers and broke it, all while staring into his eyes. Hermione was preventing Sarah from seeing this, and had cast a silencing spell on her ears. "Stop insulting me and those I care about, or you'll find yourself wishing I had stopped with only two broken fingers." That said, he broke a finger on his other hand, and sat down.

When Harry sat down, it seemed to signal some sort of release on whatever Harry had done to Malfoy, and his screaming promptly decreased. Staring in horror at Harry and his fingers, he promptly ran out of the Great Hall-presumably to the hospital wing. "Mr. Potter," Dumbledore called from the Head Table-after he got over his shock, "what did you just do to Mr. Malfoy?"

Glaring at the Headmaster, Harry responded, "I warned him repeatedly to leave me alone, and he didn't take the hint. So, I was more...decisive. I went easy on him compared to what Voldemort will do once he joins the Death Munchers, _sir_." Turning back to his meal-and his family-Harry ignored the gasps at the name and his blatant disrespect for the Headmaster.

"Mr. Potter," Professor Mcgonagall exclaimed, clearly affronted. "Professor Dumbledore is the Headmaster and you will show him the respect he deserves. Furthermore-"

"The respect he deserves?" Harry roared, standing up again. Hermione-guessing at what was coming-promptly reapplied the silencing spells to Sarah's ears as Harry stalked towards the Head Table. "What respect does he deserve? He left me with my relatives who treated me worse than a house-elf and who's idea of fun was 'let's see how much pain the freak can take before he cries!' The last time they played, I didn't cry until they had gotten past all of my ribs and both my arms." McGonagall was now sitting down, pale and horrified, as she stared at her student as he continued his rant. "Naturally, they couldn't take me to the hospital, so I had to set all my own bones. Ever try setting your bones with two broken arms? It's not easy. Ribs are particularly difficult since you can't touch both sides," he added, almost conversationally.

Suddenly roaring again, he continued, "So if I don't respect him for who he placed me with, perhaps I should respect him for protecting the school? Except he hasn't done a very good job of that, has he? First year, I faced Quirrelmort. Second year, there was a great big snake I had a fight with, that was being controlled by Voldemort. Third year, a host of dementors tried to suck out my soul. Fourth year, that stupid bloody tournament, followed by the return of he-whose-name-must-be-hyphenated. Fifth year, I was pegged as a lying, attention-seeking bastard, along with the toad woman who tortured students for her own, sick, pleasure, followed by yet another battle with the Dark Wanker. So please, enlighten me as to why I should respect Headmaster bloody Dumbledore!" By this time, he was directly in front of McGonagall, unknowingly levitating himself to be at the correct height. McGonagall couldn't even look at him, and Dumbledore was also looking decidedly pale. "No, nothing?" Harry asked snidely. Even Snape was silent as Harry turned and stalked out of the Hall with his wife and sort-of daughter.

* * *

**A/N 1: Thanks to Inzainiac for correcting my errors in this chapter, and last chapter, since I forgot to add it then.**

**A/N 2: Thanks to all my readers for putting up with the crappy writing! I'm trying to get better, I promise!**

**A/N 3: To minerdude-in chapter 4, "A Waking Nightmare," Hermione's parents showed up to bring her her clothes and other necessary items.**


	26. Adoption

_Even Snape was silent as Harry turned and stalked out of the Hall with his wife and sort-of daughter._

"Harry!" Hermione called, running after him with Sarah just behind her. "Calm down!"

"I'm trying," Harry growled, not looking at the two most important people in his life.

"Try using Occlumency, Harry," Hermione suggested as she pulled him into an empty classroom. Harry gave her a terse nod and closed his eyes, focusing on the image of his mental 'protector', the Hungarian Horntail from the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The two girls watching anxiously breathed a sigh of relief as Harry visibly grew calmer. Harry was just opening his eyes when the door burst open, causing Sarah to let out a startled squeak, and Harry and Hermione to let loose some stunners.

Fortunately for Neville and Luna, they had already had shields up when they entered the room. Not even giving the two time to apologize, Neville and Luna asked Harry simultaneously, "Are you alright? And sorry about bursting in on you guys."

"Are you guys sure you don't have a bond?" Hermione asked, amused by their perfect synchronization.

"Yes," they responded together. "But Harry didn't answer our question."

"If you two start pranking, I'll wonder if the twins are possessing you," Harry said, clearly amused, and just as clearly not wanting to talk about what happened in the Great Hall.

"What did you do to Malfoy?" Luna and Neville asked, disregarding his wish not to talk about it.

Harry sighed, knowing he was going to have to talk about it at some point. "I'll tell you, but you have to do one thing," he said, intending to ask them not to speak in unison like that.

"You ruin my fun, Harry," Luna said before Neville could open his mouth.

Harry didn't know what she meant, but Hermione obviously did as she said, "Luna, you shouldn't use you're seer abilities for something like that."

Luna shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because," Hermione started, but then stopped, clearly unable to come up with a good enough reason. "Fine," she said with a sigh.

"So what did you do to Malfoy, Harry?" Neville asked, ignoring the antics of the girls.

Harry shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really know. I just wished he would hurt, and he started screaming." Quickly changing the subject, Harry asked, "Hey, Luna, ever since the train ride, I've been meaning to ask you a question. If you're creatures are made up, why are they in the Quibbler?"

"Daddy thought he was showing support for me by using the imaginary creatures in his articles, but if you read closely, you can figure out that the imaginary creatures are just veils covering the insults to the Ministry," she responded.

Before either of the two boys could muster a response, Hermione butted in with, "That's a really good idea since any publication that openly defies the Ministry gets shut down; the only reason it wasn't in fourth year was because it was considered a small-time magazine."

"Is that why the Prophet so blindly follows whatever mood the Minister happens to be in?" Harry asked dryly.

"_Yes_," Hermione hissed; Literally, if the way Neville jumped meant anything.

"I didn't know you were a parseltongue, Hermione," Neville said, looking slightly nervous. "I didn't even know it was possible for a Muggle-born to _be _a parseltongue."

"Normally, it wouldn't be," Hermione admitted. "But you know Harry, he defies normality. He gave me parseltongue."

"Really?" Neville asked, looking more nervous. "How?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "I wanted her to have it, so I told my magic to make it happen."

"That's it?" He asked, looking relieved. "No Dark rituals or anything?"

Before Harry could respond, Hermione cut in. "Neville! You know Harry's not Dark!" She reprimanded him.

He nodded, having the decency to look ashamed. "I know, but it's hard to grow up knowing that Slytherin and You-Know-Who-"

"Say his name!" Harry interrupted angrily. "Voldemort!" Neville flinched. "Damn it! It's three French words put together! 'Vol' means flight, 'de' means of or from, and 'mort' means death! Personally, I think he's a coward for making a name that means flight from death."

"V-v-vol-vol," he paused, gathering his courage. A hard light came into his eyes, and he stuttered firmly, "V-voldemort."

Harry nodded, and looked to Luna; he'd gotten Hermione past it a long time ago. "Voldemort," she said simply. "Have you ever heard me say You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" She asked at the three surprised looks she received.

Thinking back, Harry realized that he hadn't, and, thanks to their bond, he knew Hermione hadn't, either. So he simply said, "Good point," before turning back to Neville and gesturing for him to continue.

"It's hard to change your view when you know that Slytherin and V-voldemort were both Parseltongues," he said.

"Why does it matter if Slytherin was a parseltongue?" Hermione asked.

Neville blinked in surprise at the question, clearly thinking that the answer was obvious. "He wanted to got rid of all those not of pure blood!" He exclaimed, surprised that Hermione of all people was asking.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked. "Were you there? Are there books that were written in that time period that have it documented? How do you know that that's what caused the rift between the Founders?" She waited for a moment for someone to say something, but Neville was shocked, Harry was interested, and Luna was as unflappable as ever. "Is it because everyone says so?" She continued, heat coming into her voice. "Because I'll remind you that _everyone_said that Harry was an attention-seeking brat last year. For all we know, it could have been that Slytherin was rejected because he was gay."

"Was Slytherin gay?" Luna asked, serene as ever.

Before Hermione could answer, Harry interjected, "It makes sense. Look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Or Greengrass and Davis. Personally, I think Malfoy just uses Pansy as a cover," he finished with a smirk.

"It's actually because they have a betrothal contract," Luna said amidst the laughter.

"What does gay mean?" Sarah asked out of the blue, startling the teens.

After a moment of silence, Harry told Hermione, "You brought it up!"

"We'll discuss it when you're older," Hermione said uncomfortably, ignoring Harry. Sarah gave a pout, but nodded reluctantly.

After another moment of silence-this one more awkward-Luna asked, "So, did you guys adopt her yet?"

Hermione, shifting uncomfortably, answered, "Well, we haven't asked her yet if she wants us to adopt her-"

"YES!" A loud squeal interrupted her, before both Harry and Hermione found themselves wrapped in a hug.

"Ummm...guys?" Neville interrupted. "What do you know about magical adoption?"

Harry blinked and looked to Hermione. However, to his surprise, she seemed just as clueless as he did. Turning back to Neville, he answered, "Not much, why? And how do you know about them?"

"Don't worry about that," Neville said, looking embarrassed. "But magical adoption is painful. The steps are simple-all it really takes is a potion-but it's painful. And not for the people adopting," he finished.

Hermione frowned and asked, "But what about babies? How can you adopt a baby knowing it would hurt them?"

"Actually, babies aren't really hurt by it-it's mostly uncomfortable for them," Neville answered. "What hurts is the changes that the body undergoes; the older the person, the more changes that are likely to be made, and therefore the more likely it is to hurt. Babies, fortunately, barely need to change. Sarah, however, may have to change a lot."

By the end of the explanation, Harry was holding Sarah tightly. "It's up to you," Harry said to Sarah.

She nodded. "The pain's not that bad," she said.

"You were adopted?" Hermione asked, surprised. _That would explain why she attached to us so quickly,_ she thought to herself when Sarah nodded.

"Well, then," Harry said with a smile, "I guess Hermione and I are getting a daughter." The two women in his life were also smiling, and-pushing the thoughts of the event in the Great Hall from his mind-he lead the other four to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

While four teens and a child were talking amiably (and Hermione was working on the adoption potion), Albus Dumbledore was being reamed by Minerva McGonagall.

"I warned you, Albus," she was berating him. "When you first left him there, I _told _you that they were the worst muggles imaginable!"

"It was a good idea at the time," he tried to defend himself, but it came out like a whine.

"A good idea?" She screeched at him. Even Molly Weasley would have been impressed. "Were you not listening to the same atrocities that I was?" She demanded of him.

"I said 'at the time'." _Damn. It still sounds whiny,_ he thought.

"It didn't to me!" She snapped at him. "Why won't you listen to anyone else, Albus?" McGonagall asked him. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had no answer.

* * *

"That's it?" Hermione asked, disbelieving. It had been maybe fifteen minutes since she started the potion, and it was already done. It had taken very simple, common, ingredients as well as a drop of blood from both 'parents'. "Thanks for the ingredients, Dobby," Hermione said to the beaming House-Elf when Neville nodded; apparently, without a terrorizing, greasy, git of a Potions Master, he had improved in Potions.

"Mister Harry Potter's Miss Grangey is welcomes!" Dobby squeaked happily before popping away with Winky. All four teens had wisely decided not to ask why Winky was always following Dobby like a lost puppy.

Ignoring that for the moment, Hermione turned to Sarah, and, looking her in the eye, asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sarah somehow managed to maintain eye contact as she eagerly nodded. Worried, Hermione sighed as she handed over the potion, watching as the little girl brought the cup up to her lips. Suddenly, though, she paused. Looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione, (which was easy, since they were hugging each other) she asked shyly, "Does this mean I can call you Mummy and Daddy?" The two teens nodded with unshed tears in their eyes, and clutching each other more tightly as her whole being lit up with joy and she promptly drank the potion.

The changes began almost immediately. First her hair grew longer, bushier, and darker. Then her eyes changed to an emerald green. Then, the pain started. "Mummy!" Sarah cried, reaching for Hermione. Naturally, Hermione scooped her up and held her close as the little girl twitched in pain, crying. The two new parents-who were ecstatic at being called mummy and daddy moments ago-now looked at each other in shared agony as they helplessly watched their daughter writhe in pain. They never realized that Neville and Luna had discretely left.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the pain ended, and Sarah stopped crying. "I'm tired, Mummy," she murmured sleepily to Hermione as her eyes began to close.

Hermione smiled down at her daughter, glad that Sarah's ordeal was over. "Rest, princess," she said gently, kissing her on the forehead. The little girl snuggled closer to her mother as Harry joined them on the couch. Soon, it had changed into a bed, and the new-and very different-Golden Trio was asleep.

* * *

**A/N 1: Thanks to Inzainiac, as usual, for helping me out!**

**A/N 2: Is it me, or are things really boring when Harry's refusing to see the Headmaster for traing, has no reason to suspect Draco's a Death Eater, and doesn't have that book to come between him and Hermione?**


	27. How's Everyone Doing?

_The little girl snuggled closer to her mother as Harry joined them on the couch. Soon, it had changed into a bed, and the new-and very different-Golden Trio was asleep._

* * *

The next morning, Harry was looking at his wife and his daughter, and wondering how it all happened. _It doesn't matter, it's about time the world gave you something,_ Hermione's voice broke into his thoughts.

_I think the world more than made up for that when it gave me you, _Harry replied lovingly, enjoying the blush that suffused her face. Lately, they'd only been talking to each other in their minds in the morning for three reasons. One, they didn't want to cheat in classes. Two, they were thinking about Christmas presents and didn't want to give it away. And finally-the most recent reason-they didn't want to become too used to it and leave Sarah out of conversations. Or at least, most conversations. There were some things they definitely weren't going to talk about in front of a child.

_I love you, too,_ Hermione replied. No matter how many times Harry heard it, it always made him smile. Even without their bond, Hermione would have enjoyed the smile, but since she could also feel how happy it made him to hear her say those words, she liked saying them almost as much as hearing him say them.

Before Harry could reply, Sarah began to stir, causing a question to pop into his mind. He wanted to smack himself for not thinking to ask earlier, but right now his main concern was his daughter. _My daughter,_ he thought with a smile. "Sarah?" He asked. "Are you okay?" Although he was pleased to have adopted her, worry was his prevalent emotion, and it was clear in his voice.

Sarah's eyes were still closed, but she had a smile on her face and nodded. Harry breathed a sigh of relief before asking the question-or, rather, questions-that had occurred to him earlier. "Sarah, I'm sorry for not asking earlier, but how old are you, and when is your birthday?"

Sarah opened her eyes and looked at her new father before hugging him and replying, "It's okay, Daddy." She didn't see the smile that lit his face at the use of the word, 'daddy,' and continued, "I'm five-and-a-half, and my birthday is April 19th."

Harry chuckled at the proud tone before giving an exaggerated sigh of relief. "Phew, we didn't miss it!"

"You missed my first five," the little girl disagreed. As Harry stammered and stuttered, the smile Sarah was unable to hide gave away that she was teasing, causing Hermione to laugh.

Realising he'd been played by a five-and-a-half-year-old, Harry exclaimed, "You little scamp!" And promptly started tickling her.

Between gales of laughter, Sarah managed to cry out, "No! Save me Mummy!"

Hermione, beaming at the lightheartedness as well as being called 'mummy' again-this time on purpose-promptly scooped up her daughter and hopped off the bed. "Keep away from her, you villain!" She said to Harry. Although she managed to keep from laughing, Sarah had no such ability, and the obvious fact that she was having fun ensured that Harry kept up the game for several hours.

Neither of the teenaged parents recalled that it was a Tuesday, or that they had classes, causing one greasy git and one blonde ferret to smile in anticipation.

* * *

"Both Potters missed my defense class, and I have been informed that they also missed Herbology," Snape said angrily to the Deputy Headmistress, barely able to hide his glee behind his occlumency shields. "I demand that they be punished."

McGonagall had already known they were going to miss classes, as Neville had informed her of the magical adoption. Normally, her sense of fair play would mean that she would punish her cubs, but this time they had a legitimate excuse. Snape demanding _anything_ of her meant she automatically wanted to deny it, but she couldn't have been happier about it in this case. "You can demand all you'd like," she informed the petty defense professor. "However, since they have a legitimate reason for missing classes, your demands will go unfulfilled."

The momentarily crestfallen look made her day, but Snape quickly recovered, imperiously asking, "And what is that reason? As their professor, I have a right to know," he smirked before she could deny him.

"Normally," McGonagall said sharply, "I would tell you that it is personal and therefore none of your business. However, as this news will be all over Hogwarts within a few hours if it's not already, I have no problem informing you that it was to care for their daughter."

Snape gaped for a moment before again recovering. McGonagall was now seriously enjoying herself; in ten years, she'd barely been able to get a reaction out of him, and now two in ten minutes! It was Christmas early! Her mood quickly turned around when Snape sneered, "Please inform Mrs. Potter that there are potions to prevent anymore accidents while in school, and that glamour charms are not allowed in the halls or my classroom."

Barely refraining from slapping the arrogant tosser, she informed him brittlely, "She's adopted. Now leave," she demanded before banishing him through the suddenly open door. She knew she shouldn't have done it, but it was ever so satisfying.

* * *

Elsewhere in the castle, Neville was being informed by his girlfriend about the future. "At the moment," she told him, "Harry and Hermione are playing with their daughter. Unfortunately, Draco seems to remember the room, and is waiting outside the room to ambush them. Shall we go reverse it upon him?" She asked with a sweet smile.

Neville was no longer the shy, friendless, boy who avoided fights at all costs. At the news that his friends were in possible danger, his eyes lit with an inner fire, and he growled out, "Indeed," before marching towards the seventh floor. He missed the pleasurable shudder that passed through his girlfriend at his growl before she began to follow him.

On the seventh floor in a hidden alcove, Neville found a certain blond ferret staring at a point across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Draco was so focused on that spot that he never saw the stunner that him. Moments later, the door Draco had been watching opened, making Neville wonder if his girlfriend had timed it this way on purpose. Her next words seemed to confirm this.

"Hello, Harry, Hermione, Sarah. We're going to borrow the room with our guest here, if you don't mind."

"Feel free," Harry said while Hermione merely raised an eyebrow and Sarah stared. "It's not ours, after all. Have fun," he added as the trio headed off.

Neville levitated the unconscious Draco through the door, accidentally injuring the ponce on the way in. "So what are the plans, love?" He asked his girlfriend, not worried in the slightest that he had no idea; he trusted Luna.

He was questioning that at the feral grin on her face as she looked at the unconscious Malfoy. "We find out what he's planning," she answered. She quickly explained her idea until Neville had a grin that matched hers.

It was time to wake Draco.

* * *

"I thought we talked about this."

"I know, but the statistics just won't leave me alone," Dan Granger answered his wife.

"So what are the statistics?" She challenged him.

"I don't know off the top of my head!" He protested, running his hand through his hair. "I'm a dentist, not a psychologist. The little I know is that children who suffer abuse tend to abuse others in some kind of attempt to strike back."

"Harry's nothing like that," Emma pointed out again. "Even if he was, those two are bonded. From what Hermione told me, they can feel each other. What are the statistics of bonded domestic abuse?"

"I know, I know," Dan said agitatedly, understanding that his wife's question was rhetorical. "It doesn't stop me from worrying, though. The fact that they were married before even going on a date doesn't help, either."

"They're not actually married yet," Emma pointed out.

"They're not?" He sounded confused.

"You didn't know?" Emma asked, surprised. She had assumed that Harry had told her husband during one of their chats. Despite Dan's worries the two had become close during the summer.

"Know what?" He still sounded confused, but knowing that they weren't married seemed to have calmed him a little.

Emma shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Well...they're not actually married until they...consummate," she answered. "Which they haven't yet."

"They haven't?" He asked, a tinge of surprise in his voice, and a lot of relief. "Wait, then why are they located in married quarters?"

Emma rolled her eyes at her husband. "Two reasons: one, they still wanted to sleep together in the literal sense. And two, apparently the bond will encourage them to complete it."

"You're telling me my daughter is being pushed into sex?" Dan asked angrily.

Once more, Emma rolled her eyes at her husband. "She may be our daughter, but she's no longer a little girl. She's seventeen, and she admitted that she would have had sex already had Harry asked." She raised her hand to prevent her husband's possible explosion. "You can't even get mad at Harry, since in her last letter to me she confessed that she was trying to get Harry to take that extra step, but that he's been holding back. And since the only person Hermione plans on having sex with is her fiance, you can't get mad at her, either, since it's responsible. Besides, I thought you liked Harry."

"I like him better when I'm not thinking about the fact that he'll be having sex with our daughter," he grumbled, but conceded that his wife had a point. Really, it was a lose-lose situation. He didn't want his daughter to end up alone, but he didn't like the idea of her having sex, either. He sighed, thinking life probably couldn't get more complicated.

Unfortunately, Hedwig tapped on the window bearing a letter that would disprove that. After Emma finished reading the letter aloud, Dan put his head in his hands and groaned. _I guess things can always get more complicated,_ he thought to himself ironically. When he finally sighed and looked up to his wife, he was surprised to see that she was smiling.

Seeing the quizzical look her husband was shooting her, Emma decided to share a few more things Hermione had told her. "You're upset because you're a grandparent already, right?" He nodded. "How would you feel if that grandchild was biological rather than adopted?" The look of horror on his face was answer enough, and Emma was unsure whether to laugh or frown so simply continued. "Hermione confessed that she was looking forward to having children." The look of horror changed to panic and Emma let him for minute. "I'm hoping that this will hold that off for a little longer." Emma cleared her throat to prevent herself from laughing at the comical look of relief on her husband's face. "Also, this may force Harry and Hermione to leave school, so we'll get to see more of our daughter."

Dan was cheered slightly, but he was getting a headache. His daughter was being magically pushed into sex, but would have had sex already anyway, but her boyfriend is holding out in a surprising role reversal of typical gender standards. At the same time, they had suffered through an attack on Hogsmeade, which lead to them adopting a little girl who, through magic, would look like her biological daughter, but wasn't. In fact, this might delay Hermione from having children, and may enable her parents to see her more. All Dan could think was that these thoughts might make more sense if he was drunk.

* * *

Draco woke up in a low-lit room. Standing slowly to get his bearings, the first thing he noticed was two cloaked figures. He also noticed that the room was circular and the sparse light come from torches. The final thing he noticed was the most worrying; his wand was missing.

Before he could say or do anything, the two figures spoke as one, letting Draco know that one was male and one was female. "What do you plan?"

"P-plan?" Draco stuttered out. "W-what do you mean?"

"You plan evil," they stated. "What do you plan?" They asked again, sounding impatient.

Draco had two terrors warring inside him. These two had done nothing to him yet, but they had taken him out without him knowing it inside Hogwarts, which was very unnerving. On the other hand, he had witnessed how the Dark Lord rewarded those who failed or betrayed him, and he had no wish to end up like the Longbottoms.

"WHAT DO YOU PLAN?" The two suddenly yelled, startling him from his thoughts.

Deciding nothing could be worse than the Dark Lord's favorite form of punishment, Draco said, "I plan nothing."

"Oh, good," the female purred. "Now I can have some fun."

Draco's eyes widened in horror, but before he could say anything, the male said, "I believe I called dibs on the Baby Death Muncher."

"I can share," the female purred.

Draco gulped audibly as his mouth went dry. Images of himself being tied up as a rusty knife slowly cut off each of his digits popped into his head. It didn't help that both figures had just drawn rusty knives and were now advancing upon him. He quickly made up his mind that being cut into pieces with a rusty knife was worse than the possibility of the Dark Lord finding out, and screamed, "The vanishing cabinets! There's one at Borgin and Burke's that connects to one in Hogwarts! I wanted the other Death Eater's to come and distract people while I killed Dumbledore!"

"Ambitious," the two said, ending their advance, but not putting the knives away. "Where is the vanishing cabinet?"

"In the Room of Requirement, at Hogwarts!"

"What is the requirement?"

"You need to ask for a place to hide things! Please don't kill me!" He pleaded.

The two figures didn't answer, but they did turn away and put their knives away. Since there were four doors, though, Draco was unsure if this was an exit or if it would let in some beast to tear him apart. He never found out, as he was hit with a stunner from behind and everything went black.

* * *

The two cloaked figures vanished as Neville cancelled the illusion and kissed his girlfriend. "Remind me never to break up with you," he said to her fervently.

Feigning ignorance, Luna asked, "Why is that?"

"Because you do one scary imitation of Bellatrix and your Terror Curse is not something I ever want to feel," he said fervently. Before she could respond, Neville managed to surprise the seer by continuing, "The fact that I don't really want to might play a major part, too."

Tears sprang to Luna's eyes, and the still-fragile girl hesitantly asked, "You love me?" When he nodded, she launched herself at him and snogged him senseless. When they momentarily broke for air, Luna said, "I love you, too," before she pounced on him again, forgetting all about Draco and the vanishing cabinet for the moment.

Neville found himself beaming at everyone for the rest of the week, and many noticed that he was often distracted.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Inzainiac for correcting my mistakes, as usual!  
I apologize for being late, but two family members had surgery, followed by half of my story being erased.**


	28. A Letter

__

Neville found himself beaming at everyone for the rest of the week, and many noticed that he was often distracted.

* * *

"So what do we do?" Harry asked when Neville and Luna finished their explanation of what they had discovered. Hermione was distracting Sarah while he broadcast the information to her.

"I don't know, I was hoping you-" Neville began before being cut off by a gasp from Luna.

"Harry, in a few minutes, Hermione is going to get a letter," Luna explained in a hurried whisper. "DO NOT let her open it in here. Take her to your room, and leave Sarah here with us."

Harry had no idea what was going on, but he knew he could trust Luna. "Remind me to ask you something later."

"I am a seer, while Trelawney would actually be classified as a prophet. I see possibilities of what can happen based on people's decisions, while she sees what will definitely happen. I can also see auras and bonds," Luna explained quickly, still whispering.

Harry barely managed to get out an, "Oh," before his attention was drawn upwards by the arrival of the morning mail. Moving quickly, he was beside Sarah and whispering in her ear before most people realized the mail had arrived. "How do you feel about staying with Uncle Neville and Aunt Luna for a little while?" Sarah looked surprised at the titles, but nodded happily. "Alright, be good and have fun," Hary said as he watched a letter drop towards Hermione. Moving quickly once more, he grabbed the letter before Hermione could, since he hadn't broadcast Luna's prediction. At her look of confusion, he whispered to her, "We're going to go open this in private, and Sarah will be looked after by Luna and Neville." Hermione's look of confusion didn't lessen, but she nodded and followed Harry to their room.

"What do you know about this letter, Harry?" Hermione asked once they made it to their room, a hint of impatience in her voice.

"Only that Luna warned me not to let you open it in the Great Hall, and to have you open it somewhere private," he answered honestly.

_What could it be that Luna didn't want me to open it in the Great Hall?_ Hermione asked herself, looking a little afraid of the letter that was currently in Harry's hands. Tentatively, she held out her hand for the letter, which Harry gave to her. She stared at it for a moment, before moving to the couch, where Harry joined her. Both continued to stare at the letter for a while before Hermione gathered her courage, took a deep breath, and broke the seal.

Slowly, almost fearfully, she removed the letter from the envelope with shaking hands. Still moving slowly, she unfolded the letter, and began to read.

Harry, who wasn't reading the letter until Hermione had read it and said he could, watched as her grip tightened on the paper and her face drained of color. Tears were welling in her eyes, but she continued to read through them. Despite that, Hermione finished reading fairly quickly, before grabbing onto Harry and sobbing into his chest. Unsure of what had upset her, he simply rubbed her back and made soothing noises. After a few minutes, when she had become a bit calmer, Harry tentatively asked, "Love? What did it say?"

Hermione pulled back a little to wipe her eyes. With a sniff, she said, "I-it's fr-from M-Mum. Sh-she and D-dad w-we-were..." Unable to finish, Hermione grabbed the letter and gave it to Harry, before sobbing and burrowing into his chest again.

With one arm wrapped around her, Harry began reading the letter that had upset his Hermione. It didn't take long before Harry was shaking almost as much as Hermione, but where Hermione was shaking from horror, despair, and sadness, Harry was shaking from rage. He also had the same emotions running through him that Hermione did, but he allowed his anger to cloak them, before he buried all of them and comforted Hermione. Later, he would think and feel. Right now, Hermione needed him to be strong.

It didn't take long for Hermione to fall into an exhausted slumber in his arms, allowing Harry to think about the letter. Harry had admired the Grangers after staying with them over the summer, but the letter impressed the hell out of him. Not because of its contents, but because of the way it was written. Although the writing was shaky from her cruciatus exposure, she explained everything matter-of-factly, even when describing her own gang-rape. The only crack he saw was the tear drop where she mentioned how Dan had been put into a cruciatus-induced coma, like the Longbottoms. Then there were the names. _Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Avery, Rookwood, Dolohov, Mulciber, Macnair, and the three Lestranges,_ kept running through his mind. He knew that those were the names of the same Death Eaters who were at the ministry. Looking down at the figure of his sleeping wife, Harry silently vowed vengeance.

* * *

Luna paused momentarily as they made their way down to dinner, processing the fact that her friends were in no shape to care for Sarah tonight. She quickly flipped through scenarios as she continued to follow Neville into the Great Hall.

Neville was the only person to notice Luna's pause, or the look in her eye that meant she was flipping through scenarios of the future. He didn't know the exact scenarios she was flipping through, but trusted that she would tell him if it wasn't someone else's secret.

When they reached the Great Hall, Luna leaned into Neville and whispered in his ear, "No matter what I say, DO NOT visit Harry and Hermione tonight." Neville nodded, and the couple plus Sarah sat down at the Gryffindor table, with Sarah in the middle. "Sarah, would you like to have a slumber party with me tonight?" Luna asked immediately after sitting down.

The little girl frowned. "But what about Mummy and Daddy?" She asked.

"I'm sure they'll be fine with it, but just to make sure..." She looked passed Sarah to Neville. "Neville, will you check if it's alright with Harry and Hermione? If they say yes, please don't bother us, but if they say, no, we'll be in the Room of Requirement." Neville nodded, knowing from his girlfriend's advice earlier not to go to them.

Sarah however, was still frowning. "Do they regret adopting me?" She asked in a small voice.

"No, not in the slightest," Luna assured her. "Unfortunately, they do have things to take care of, and for tonight, they can't take care of you, no matter how much they want to." Sarah didn't look reassured, but nodded anyway, and started to eat. Luna sighed, unsure as to what she could do to reassure her. She knew that tomorrow, Hermione would practically smother her, and that Harry would explain with as little detail as possible what had happened, but until then, she would be sad. Luna hated seeing people sad, especially children, but couldn't do anything about it. With a sigh, she joined Sarah and Neville in eating dinner.

It wasn't until later, in the Room of Requirement, that she struck on an idea to take the little girl's mind off her parents. "Sarah, do you want to do something me and my daddy used to do?"

"What did you used to do?" She asked, still looking a bit sad.

"Well, my daddy owns a magazine," Luna explained, "and he wanted to use it to tell the truth about the government. Unfortunately, magazines that published stuff the ministry didn't want known ended up getting shut down. So we would come up with ridiculous creatures and use them to replace real things. But," Luna lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "this room can create whatever creature we come up with." Sarah's eyes widened comically, and Luna was relieved to see that no hint of sadness existed in those eyes.

Sarah's young mind raced with possible creatures, until she found one she liked. Closing her eyes, she concentrated until she felt something warm and fuzzy in her lap. Opening her eyes, she let out a delighted squeal at the pure white rabbit that was in her lap. Luna smiled as she watched her coo over the rabbit, before closing her own eyes in concentration. She opened them as soon as she felt the weight on her back. It was only a few seconds before the lemur crawled around to sit on her lap.

It wasn't long before the two girls began making different animals; polar bears that acted like kittens, playful wolves with wings, and Sarah even made a giant frog with a saddle, which both girls enjoyed riding. Just one hour after Luna made the suggestion, Sarah had fallen asleep. But, instead of the sad look she wore earlier, she had a blissful smile that Luna echoed, pleased with how she had handled the evening.

* * *

While Sarah was falling asleep, Hermione was waking up. At first, Harry didn't notice, but Hermione quickly changed that by pulling him down into a needy kiss. When they broke apart, Hermione begged, "Harry, please take me."

Harry sighed. "Hermione, I-"

"Please," Hermione begged again, throwing in puppy-dog eyes.

Harry hated that look. It turned his will to jello, and he knew he had to stay firm. "No, Hermione." He held up his hand to stop her from trying again. "Hermione, I love you. You know I do. But our first time should not be when you're this distressed," he said persuasively.

Hermione looked ready to beg again, but she sagged, knowing he was right. Still, she wasn't quite ready to give up. "Then why have you said no before now?"

"I didn't want you getting pregnant yet," he said.

"There are charms and potions for that," Hermione said with an eye roll.

"I know, but I looked up bonds, and I found out that it will negate all forms of contraception."

"Really?" Hermione asked, looking curious. "I must have missed that," she mused. There was a thought-filled moment of silence before Hermione perked up. "What if we left school?" She asked.

"What would we do?" Harry asked. "Although I don't regret it, we can't exactly go hunting for Voldemort with Sarah. And you couldn't come if you were pregnant, either," he pointed out.

"Alright, Voldemort needs to die," she grumbled, causing Harry to chuckle.

"True, but we don't even know what his Horcruxes are," Harry said.

"Why don't you try Legillimency on him?" Hermione asked.

Harry shuddered. "I tried, once. The first time Dumbledore mentioned Horcruxes. He trapped me in his mind for what felt like years, showing me scenes of torture and rape he had committed."

"Oh," Hermione answered faintly, looking pale. There was another thoughtful pause, and Hermione perked up yet again. "What if I join you?"

"I never thought of that," Harry admitted. "But there's another problem; assuming we can get the information from his mind, how do we keep him from finding out and moving them?"

"We can't," Hermione admitted after spending several moments trying to find an answer. "We'd have to be able to get to the locations before he would."

Harry nodded. "Which would mean during the summer. Except that he would probably hide one of his Horcruxes here at Hogwarts."

"What if we do it on the last day of school?" Hermione suggested. "If there's one at Hogwarts, we can get it then, and then portkey to wherever the others are. We should ask Dumbledore what he thinks, though," she added, causing Harry to grimace, but agree.

"We'll do it tomorrow, though," Harry said when Hermione looked ready to go then and there. She pouted a little, but agreed, and headed towards their bedroom. As soon as she lay down, Harry cast a sleeping spell on her before what happened to her parents could hit her again.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks go to Inzainiac, as usual, for making this story coherent.**

In other news, I have finally decided how I'm going to work my stories! After this story, I'll work on Prisoners and Tournaments, (I seriously need a new name for that), followed by Change of Destiny, and then back to this. Since Way of the Warlock is already up in English, and I'm only trying to fix the errors, I'll only work on it when I get stuck on whichever story is supposed to be next.


	29. Invading Minds

_"We'll do it tomorrow, though," Harry said when Hermione looked ready to go then and there. She pouted a little, but agreed, and headed towards their bedroom. As soon as she lay down, Harry cast a sleeping spell on her before what happened to her parents could hit her again._

* * *

Hermione woke up slightly disoriented from Harry's sleeping spell, not that she knew that. Once she was re-oriented, she wished the disorientation would return as she recalled her mother's letter and tears threatened to overwhelm her. She almost angrily wiped them away, and noticed a slight pulling on her magic. She could tell it was going to Harry, but when she tried to see what he was doing, she ran into a wall of steel around his mind.

Now worried about him, she flipped over, and found him sitting indian-style on the bed, eyes closed and a look of concentration on his face. She didn't know what he was doing, but if he needed to pull on her power, even slightly, it was bad. So she pushed more power into him. It was enough to leave her panting slightly, but she could still get through the day on the energy she had left.

Unfortunately, Harry didn't even twitch, which meant he was very out of touch with his body, or expected it. Somehow, she doubted that he expected it. And the only way she could think of that would leave him out of touch with his body was using his connection to Voldemort-diminished since the battle at the Ministry, but still there.

If her assumption was correct, then there was nothing she could do. Breaking through his shields or distracting him could prove fatal, and she couldn't join him with his shields in place. "Damn it, Harry, we agreed to do this together," she muttered. Of course, knowing him like she did, she figured that he recalled just how dangerous that psychopath's mind was and, in his usual noble, self-sacrificing way, had decided to protect her. Then she frowned. He might try to protect her, but they had agreed to wait until the end of the school year, and there was no reason for him not to do that. He might be frustrated that he had to wait, but she knew that he knew it was better. So what was he doing?

She growled frustratedly, no longer sure about any of her assumptions. Realizing that there was nothing she could do, she left the mental equivalent of a post-it note on his shields to let her know when he was done, and went to take a shower, suddenly anxious to see her daughter. A slight smile formed on her lips as she thought the word, and she moved even quicker to get ready. Within fifteen minutes, she had showered and dressed. Hesitating at the door, she took one last look at Harry, before going to the Great Hall in the hopes that her daughter was there for breakfast.

* * *

Part of Hermione's assumptions were correct, and Harry was, in fact, in Voldemort's mind. And he was trying to protect her. Because Harry was searching for information on the Granger's attack, and there was no way in Hell that he was subjecting Hermione to that. He wanted to know how they had done it and why they had done it.

After his last attempt to penetrate Tom's mind had failed so miserably, he decided that brute force would be better than the subtlety he had tried before. But he also knew that it took quite a bit of energy to reach out to him, and that the Dark Bastard was powerful in his own right, and had probably done rituals to make himself stronger. So he took a page out of Hermione's book, and did some research. First, though, he had to find a way to keep it from Hermione. Not because he didn't trust her, but because he knew she would try and help.

While Hermione was sleeping, Harry went through her book on Ancient Runes, since something told him the answer would be in there. And he was correct. He soon found a combination of runes that would enable him to forego sleep. Naturally, he couldn't do this all the time, since the author warned that using runes, spells, or potions to negate the need to do something had serious side effects. Usually insanity.

So, once a week, Harry used the runeset that he had carved into a ring to enable him to go to the library in the middle of the night. Since he was now legally of age, curfew didn't actually apply to him, and he could access the Restricted Section. Which he did.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long (about three sleepless nights) to find that, in ancient times, precious gems had been used to store power. Like a wand, though, each person had a specific gem that would work best for them. To Harry's mild amusement, the spell to reveal which gem would suit him best came up with the result ruby, his own birthstone.

So, on his next sleepless night, as he had taken to calling them, he had snuck out of the castle and apparated to Knockturn Alley, since he knew that Diagon Alley didn't have any shops open that late. Keeping his hood up, he had found a magical jeweler's shop that was still open. Within three hours, he had two armbands big enough to cover half of his forearm made of pure ruby-which was not cheap-and charmed to be invisible. Since then, he had charged them with magic every morning as soon as he woke up.

Now, with the attack of Hermione's parents, Harry used the ring he had made for the first time since going to Knockturn Alley to attack Voldemort's mind. For a few moments, Harry had had the upper hand, enough to quickly find the information he was looking for. But then his stalker had begun to gain power, enough to trap the Boy-Who-Lived in the mind of the sociopathic hypocrite, but not enough to dominate him as had happened last time.

Draining his armbands rapidly, Harry gained enough power to discover that Voldemort was drawing power through the Dark Mark of his followers. To Harry's horror, he realized that Voldemort had _far_ more power to draw on than he did, so, with a quick prayer, he drained his armbands entirely, and attempted to sever the Dork Lord's connection to his followers.

It didn't work.

Instead, Harry found himself accidentally drawing power from the Dark Marks, as well, essentially negating that particular advantage of Mouldywart's. Interestingly enough, Harry discovered that they were near the exact same power level. However, Voldemort had been studying the mind arts for a long time, making him more skilled, and, since it was his own mind, he was also more powerful, as well. This forced Harry to draw a bit on Hermione's power, just enough to prevent himself from being overwhelmed.

What felt like days passed in the minds of the two adversaries, when Harry suddenly felt a burst of power, enough to break free of Voldemort. However, it wasn't enough for him to make it back to his own body, essentially leaving him in a mental limbo until his power recharged. Unfortunately, his power was being drained in an unconscious attempt to bring him back, which Harry didn't have enough energy to prevent, essentially trapping him until someone fed him more power.

* * *

Sarah had insisted on sitting as close to the doors as the Gryffindor table allowed so that she could see her parents when they came in. So it didn't surprise Neville or Luna (of course) when Hermione had stepped into the Great Hall and was immediately attacked by a child screaming a battle cry of, "Mummy!"

Hermione didn't hesitate, she swept her daughter into a fierce hug, one returned just as fiercely. "Did you have fun with Uncle Neville and Auntie Luna?" Hermione asked into her hair.

Sarah nodded into Hermione's shoulder. "Mummy?" She whispered hesitantly.

Hermione smiled, as she usually did when Sarah called her that. "Yes, love?" She whispered back just as quietly.

"Do you...do you regret adopting me?" Sarah held her breath, waiting for the answer.

Hermione was shocked by the question. "What? Why would we regret adopting you?" She didn't even think about the use of 'we' instead of 'I', she and Harry were practically one. Sarah didn't answer, so Hermione continued, "No, we don't regret adopting you."

Sarah was silent for a moment. "But...you left me," she whispered, sounding broken.

Hermione groaned internally as she realized how it would look; less than a day after being adopted, she's left with their friends while they leave almost without a backward glance. Realizing that they had stood at the entrance to the Great Hall for the last couple of minutes, Hermione carried Sarah to her original spot as she explained, "I'm sorry about that. Sometimes, me and Daddy are going to need some alone time. Yesterday was just one of those times."

Sarah clung to her tighter as Hermione sat down. "Promise?" She asked, still sounding so fragile.

Hermione squeezed her daughter to her. "I promise that we do not regret adopting you," Hermione swore. Sarah nodded, accepting this, and cuddled into Hermione, making the older girl smile as she began to eat breakfast.

Out of nowhere, Luna reached over and grabbed her hand, and Hermione felt a jolt of power. "Harry needs more power," Luna explained at her quizzical look.

Hermione's eyes widened, and, like earlier, sent Harry a burst of power through the bond. Seconds later, she received, _Sorry, love. I couldn't get back._

_You were in Voldemort's mind again,_ she stated.

_Yes,_ Harry replied, though it sounded tired. _Need sleep._ Seconds later, she felt him fall asleep, which felt very odd.

Hermione was worried, but knew that Harry was okay now. All she had to focus on at that moment was not dropping food on her daughter. She could focus on Harry later, when he was awake. Fortunately, classes started late today, so she could let him sleep for a while.

* * *

It was about three hours later that Harry finally woke up, feeling ravenous. Unconsciously, his mind reached out for Hermione and found her sitting on the couch in their common room, presumably with Sarah. After taking a moment to bask in the love that he always felt when connected to Hermione, Harry got out of the bed and headed towards the common room.

Before he could actually step into the common room, he found himself under attack by a little girl screaming "Daddy!"

As soon as she hit him, he scooped her up, giving her a tight hug. "Oh, look, a snack has wandered into my arms," he teased. "You should be careful, I just might eat you."

"DA-DDY!" She tried to whine. It was ruined a bit by her giggles, though.

Harry adopted the expression of pure innocence. "Yes, my dear?"

The precocious little girl adopted a stern expression, and waggled her finger at him. "You aren't allowed to eat people," she informed him sternly. Of course, it was once again ruined by her giggles, which she was unsuccesfully attempting to hide.

Harry played along, mock whining with a playful pout, "Aw, why not?"

Hermione watched the byplay with a smile from the couch. She was, of course, still worried about Harry, but it was nice to see two people who were important to her having fun. It occurred to her that Sarah acted a bit above her age, but then, so did she and Harry, albeit for different reasons.

As long as her family made it through this war, she would be content. Now, she just needed to find a way to keep her parents safe...

* * *

**A/N: Thanks, as usual, to Inzainiac for making sure people could read this. Unfortunately, I received a message from him that he can no longer beta for me. So now I'm looking for a new one. Can anyone help me out?**

**Sorry that I didn't get to the explanation about Hermione's parents, yet, it just seemed right to end the chapter here.**

**Also, since I forgot to put it in a previous chapter, which a reviewer pointed out, the adoption idea came from 'Delicate' by SaoirseAngel.**

**On a side note, does anyone disagree with my assertion that Voldemort stalks Harry?**


	30. Chapter 30

**THIS STORY IS BEING ABANDONED!**

I apologize to the people who, inexplicably, enjoy this story, but I can't stand it. I was planning on re-writing it, but the truth is it's just plain bad. If you would like to adopt this, feel free, but it will be deleted by next week.


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